JEDDAH: The heat is on as Al-Hilal is a point away from the top of the Saudi Professional League standings. They got what they wished for as Al-Ittihad drew their match against Al-Hazem 3-3 while Hilal crushed Najran 7-0 in a totally one-sided affair at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh yesterday.
In Al-Rass, Ittihad escaped from a certain defeat and managed to escape with one point from its stubborn opponents.
Al-Hazem was first to score in the 54th minute through Hamadji. Sultan Al-Numari of Ittihad equalized in the 64th minute before Hamadji came two minutes later and put Al-Hazem ahead. Sultan Al-Numari again leveled the score in the 88th minute for Ittihad. Ittihad pushed forward in search for the winner and three points knowing that Hilal is on their tail.
However, Waleed Al-Jizani stunned Ittihad and their fans when he scored the third goal during injury time. Just when everyone thought that Ittihad are going to taste their first loss to the bottom-placed outfit, Naif Al-Hazzazi had other plans and saved Ittihad the blushes when he got the equalizer during the fourth minute of injury time to the delight of his teammates and fans.
Ittihad remained on top with 37 points and Al-Hazem advanced to the eighth spot with 12.
In Riyadh, Hilal made sure that the message is loud and clear for Ittihad as they crushed Najran in a one-sided match. Hilal got their three points and strengthened their position in the second spot with 36 points thus narrowing the gap to one point from the leaders. Najran dropped to ninth position with 11 points.
The Saudi Professional League will take time off and resume on Jan. 19th.
