JEDDAH, 5 April 2008 — It will be a war of attrition after Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab drew the first of two pending matches between them 1-1 last night in the Saudi Football League in Riyadh. The draw means the teams’ return bout is a death match that could also impact on idle and league-leading Al-Ittihad. Hilal and Shabab each added a point to their tallies at 44 and 38 respectively. Hilal are 4 points adrift of Ittihad (48 points) and a victory the next time they face Shabab would put them just a point shy of their Jeddah-based rivals and give them a legitimate shot at the title in the match against Ittihad on April 13, the final day of the tournament.
Under this scenario, Ittihad would have the option to either win or draw to claim the crown, while Hilal’s only option is to win.
For Shabab their hopes of overtaking Hilal at second had been dashed though they could play the spoiler’s role by beating Hilal and ending their title hopes while at the same time handing Ittihad the league crown.
In the non-bearing matches, Al-Nasr defeated Al-Hazm 2-1, Najran downed Al-Ahli 2-0, Al-Ittifaq and Al-Watani drew 1-1 as did Al-Taie and Al-Qadisia 0-0.
