JEDDAH: Locked in a tight race, neither Al-Ittihad nor Al-Hilal blinked as each won their crucial matches yesterday in the Saudi Professional League football tournament.
In Najran, Ittihad did not leave room for chances and crushed Najran 4-1 while Hilal escaped with a 1-0 victory over Wehda thanks to a last-gasp goal by Al-Anbar in Makkah.
But prior to Al-Anbar’s goal in the dying minutes the home team and Hilal had looked headed to a goalless draw, a result which could have been a perfect gift for Ittihad.
Ittihad and Hilal kept their 1-2 places in the team standings with a mere two points separating them. Ittihad pushed its tally to 49 points and Hilal to 47.
Wehda dropped to eighth place with 20 points.
In Dammam, Al-Ahli failed to deliver a victory against Al-Ittifaq after the match ended 0-0.
Ahli remained third on 33 points with a match in hand with Ittifaq sixth in the standings on 28 points.
Al-Shabab and Al-Watani played to a 2-2 draw. Al-Watani remained last on 11 points and one step away from falling to the First Division.
Shabab retained its fourth position on 32 points and one point away from Ahli.
Al-Hazem surprisingly defeated Al-Nasr 1-0 in Al-Rass and moved up to eighth and far away from the relegation on 21 points. Nasr is in fifth place with 30 points.
Al-Raid sent Abha a step closer to the First Division by scoring a 1-0 victory in their match.
The victory boosted Al-Raid’s point-total to 15 points, while Abha remained in 11th place with 11 points.
