By Mohammed Al-Kinani
JEDDAH – Al-Hilal increased its lead at the top of the Zain Saudi Professional League standings beating Al-Wehda 3-1 despite a goal being declared void at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium Thursday afternoon.
The match was moved in the afternoon due to the cold weather the Central Region is experiencing these days.
Yasser Al-Qahtani put Al-Hilal in the lead in the 22nd minute while Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, the league’s top scorer with 10 goals, doubled the lead in the 63rd minute. Both goals came through cross passes by the Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson, who has renewed his contract with Al-Hilal for another two seasons.
Muhanned Aseeri scored the visitors’ lone goal in the 78th minute. Thiago Neves, however, sealed the win from the spot in the 89th minute after Wehda defender Majid Bilal had brought down Wilhelmsson in the area.
Hilal President, Prince Abdurrahman Bin Musa’ad, said after the match that they will ask the General Presidency of Youth Welfare to depute foreign referees for the remaining matches.
The demand came after referee Abdurrahman Al-Amri, depending on a signal from the linesman Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, declared Wilhelmsson’s “goal” void.
Wilhelmsson had kicked the ball from inside the area. His ball hit the bar and fell behind the goal line before bouncing back to the bar and falling in front of the goal line. It was not declared a goal.
Commenting on the incident in an interview with a TV channel, Abdul-Moa’tti Kaki, Al-Wehda president, said the goal should have stood. Though, he claimed that Hilal’s first goal should not have been a goal since Qahtani was offside. He also suspected the accuracy of the referee’s decision on Hilal penalty kick.
Hilal sits on top of the standings with 38 points, eight ahead of runner-up Al-Shabab. Al-Wehdah remains fifth on 17 points.
Hazm beat Al-Fateh 2-1 at Al-Hazm Club Stadium in Al-Russ city in the other afternoon encounter.
Salahuddin Eqal put Hazm in front four minutes after the break. Al-Hazm goalkeeper Saeed Al-Harbi then saved his team from a certain goal when he blocked a penalty taken by Tunisian defender Ramzi Younos in the 55th minute.
The five-minute extra time witnessed two goals. Yahiya Majrashi first scored for Al-Hazm in the 91st minute, while Al-Fateh’s Emanuel scored from the spot seconds before time.
The winner is eighth in standings with 15 points, while Al-Fateh is sixth with 17 points.
Champion Al-Ittihad beat Al-Raed 3-2 at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Amine Chermiti put Ittihad in front in the 17th minute before his teammate Hicham Aboucherouane doubled the lead six minutes later.
The Malian striker of the guest team, Javier About, helped decrease the lead in the 66th minute before Mousa Al-Shammari leveled the score from the spot in the 78th minute. However, it was only one minute later that Chermiti sealed the win for Ittihad.
Al-Ittihad is third on 23 points, while Al-Raed remains in the bottom with six points.
In another match, Al-Qadasiya edged 1-0 over its guest Najran at Prince Saud Bin Jalawi Stadium.
Sultan Al-Yami scored the only goal of the game in the second minute of the encounter that was marked by 10 yellow cards - five for each team.
Al-Qadasiya is 9th on 11 points, while Najran is 11th on seven.
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