JEDDAH: Strong contenders Al-Hilal crashed to their first defeat in the Saudi Professional League when they were shocked 2-1 by Al-Nasr in a round 15 encounter at the King Fahad International Stadium in Riyadh on Thursday.

This was Nasr’s first win over Hilal in six years.

Hilal’s defeat was good news for second-placed Al-Shabab, who takes on Al-Ahli today. If Shabab wins then it will be only two points separating the top two.

The early schedule (3:30 local time) did not damper the fans of both outfits, who turned out in large numbers.

Both teams desperately need a win. Hilal, to stretch their lead to five points from second-placed Shabab while Nasr knew a victory against Hilal would be a morale booster and improve their position in the standings.

In a fast-paced encounter Nasr meant business right from the start and held sway in midfield.

They did not have to wait long as their efforts bore fruit when Abdullah Al-Qarni drew first blood in the seventh minute.

Unmarked Qarni received a ball inside the penalty box following a free kick and bulged the net when challenged by rival goalkeeper.

Hilal went all out for the equalizer after the change of ends. However, Nasr’s defense, which gave their best performance of the league so far, frustrated them with their man-to-man marking, that put more pressure on their rivals.

Just when it looked that Hilal were getting into their grove, Muhammad Al-Sahlawi doubled the score for Nasr against the run of play in the 70th minute making Hilal’s task more difficult.

Al-Sahlawi received a fine cross inside the penalty box behind a Hilal defender headed and the ball to the right hand side of rival goalkeeper.

Sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead Nasr changed tactics and went into their shell defending their citadel and relying on counter attacks.

Hilal never gave up and continued to pressurize the Nasr defense in search for a goal.

Their efforts were rewarded, but it came a little too late, in the form of a penalty which was converted by Muhammad Al-Shalhoub during injury time.

However, despite this defeat, Hilal continued to occupy the top spot in the league with 38 points while Nasr moved to the fifth position with 18 points.

Five matches will be played on Friday.

In a crucial encounter, Al-Ahli will take on Shabab at Prince Abdullah A-Faisal stadium in Jeddah.

Shabab will want to take advantage of Hilal’s loss, as a win against Ahli will put them back on track for the league title.

On the other hand, Ahli will be seeking to secure three points and compete for third place increasing the gap with Nasr.

Shabab is second in the standing with 33 points and Ahli is fourth with 19 points.

Wehda will host Qadesiya in Makkah. Wehda is sixth in the standing with 17 points and Qadesiya is ninth with 11. Al-Raid will host Al-Hazem in Buraidah. Najran will host Ittihad in Najran. Al-Fateh will host Ittifaq in Ahsa.