JEDDAH: Teams widely considered also-rans are now giving the big teams a big headache.
Just as Al-Raid and Al-Fateh gave Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad fits at the start of the Zain Saudi Professional League on Tuesday, Al-Qadisia too gave Al-Hilal trouble in Hilal’s 2-1 victory in Alkhobar on Wednesday.
Riyadh-based Hilal escaped with the game’s three points after scoring the winning goal in the waning minutes.
Qadisia was first to score in the 13th minute from a header by Nilson. Hilal equalized in the 28th minute courtesy of Al-Ghannam’s header. Ahmad Al-Suwaileh saved Hilal from potential embarrassment in the 88th minute by ramming home a fine shot from inside the penalty box.
Qadisia regained its spot in the main league after two seasons in the First Division.
In Najran, Al-Shabab had no difficulty putting away Najran 3-1.
After Najran scored the first goal of the match in the 13th minute through Abdul Aziz Mubarak it was all Shabab the rest of the way.
Shabab tallied all their goals in the second half — in the 56th minute by Camacho and in the 67th and 82nd minutes by Amado.
Al-Ittifaq settled for a 2-2 draw against Wehda of Makkah in Makkah.
Muhammad Al-Zahrani scored Ittifaq’s opening goal in the 6th minute from a penalty kick. Wehda equalized in the 47th minute from Mokhtar Fallata and took the lead in the 60th minute on Ahmad Al-Mousa’s goal.
Ittifaq equalized in the 71st minute with a strike by Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani.
The scheduled match between A-Nasr and Al-Hazem in Riyadh was postponed after a few of Hazem players were suspected of having swine flu.
