JEDDAH: Round one of the Saudi Professional League ended with no surprises and, as expected, with strong starts for Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal.
Out of the 12 teams participating at least five teams are tipped to win the league title, namely Ittihad, Hilal, Al-Nasr, Al-Shabab and Al-Ittifaq. The other teams are playing to stay competitive to be in the so-called middle warm zone rank and avoid relegation to the first league division.
Six matches took place in each of the two playdates on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Jeddah-based Ittihad as expected crushed Al-Raid 5-1 in a one-sided match. Many had hoped for an Al-Raid surprise especially that Al-Raid defeated Ittihad in a friendly tournament last month in Abha. It remained just that — hope as Ittihad claimed the game’s three points and sent a warning to all and sundry that Ittihad meant business this year. Emad Miteb, Egyptian professional player at Ittihad, scored one goal in the match with Busharwan and Muhammad Nur each scoring two goals.
Ittifaq had no trouble wining its first match at home in Dammam against Al-Watani of Tabuk 3-0. The dangerous striking unit of Prince Tago and Saleh Bahseer scored for Ittifaq. This game witnessed the return of the national player Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani to Ittifaq after playing on loan to Ittihad last season. Shabab took some doing before putting away Najran 2-1 in the third match on Saturday in Riyadh. Najran, the surprise of the last season, forced Shabab, the winner of the King’s Cup for champions, to a 0-0 draw in the first half. Nevertheless the three points was a good start for Shabab that faces Al-Ahli in Jeddah next Thursday.
On Sunday, Nasr created some ripple by winning against the tough Jeddah-based Ahli club 2-1 in Riyadh. Ahli was first to score through Hasan Al-Raheb. Nasr equalized through Elton Jose and took the lead for good after Razak Omotoyossi converted a penalty kick.
Hilal defeated Abha in Abha 3-0. Hilal delivered an impressive performance in the match that had the young players blending well with veterans like Muhammad Al-Daie and Omar Al-Ghamdi. Hilal faces Raid in Riyadh in the next match.
The last match went according to form as Wehda of Makkah defeated Al-Hazem of Al-Rass 2-1 in Al-Rass. Wehda’s German coach Theo Bukair had a good read of the match and managed to eliminate the threats of Al-Hazem. This match was supposed to be a home game for Wehda but had to be played away as a punishment handed down by the Youth Welfare Presidency against Wehda in connection with the events during the semifinals against Hilal in the King’s Cup for Champions competition.
