JEDDAH: The Riyadh derby between Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal ended 2-2 at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh in round 10 of the Saudi Professional League on Thursday.
The result was good news to Al-Ittihad as it was hoping for both teams to draw in order to catch up especially after Ittihad dropped six important points against Shabab and Al-Ittifaq.
Thiago Neves was first to score for Hilal in the 25th minute from a fine free kick outside the penalty box that went to the left of the goalie. With momentum on its side Hilal scored its second goal in the 38th minute when Muhammad Al-Shalhoub fired a long-range shot that sailed past goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah.
Just as when many entertained thoughts of a 2-0 Hilal win Kamatcho took advantage of a poor defending and fired home a rebound to pull one back for Shabab.
Hilal had on more than one occasion nearly scored a third goal were it not for a fine goalkeeping by Waleed Abdullah.
Shabab was awarded a penalty kick in the 68th minute but Naser Al-Shamrani blew the chance following a fine save by the Hilal goalkeeper.
Again, poor defending gave Kamatcho the opportunity to level the game from a rebounded penalty kick.
Hilal racheted up the pressure in a bid to collect the game’s three points but Shabab held fast to forge the draw. Hilal stayed top of the table with 26 points and Shabab second with 23 points.
In the other match, Al-Hazem defeated Najran 3-2 in Najran. Al-Hazem jumped to sixth position on 11 points with Najran ninth on seven points.
Matches on Friday pit Al-Nasr against Al-Fateh in Riyadh and Wehda against Al-Raid in Makkah.
