Shabab beats Nasr, sits 2nd in standings

By Mohammed Al-Kinani

JEDDAH – Runner-up Al-Shabab continued chasing the Zain Saudi Professional League leader Al-Hilal after defeating nine-man Al-Nasr 3-2 at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh Friday.

Striker Nasser Al-Shamrani put Al-Shabab in the lead just before the break. Argentinean midfielder Victor Alberto Figueroa equalized for Nasr after the break, but Abdullah Shuhail put Shabab one up only for Nasr’s Figueroa to level the game again. Abdullah Al-Ostta, however, gave Shabab the winning goal in the 67th minute.

Shabab is second in the standings with 33 points, five behind Al-Hilal. On the other hand, Nasr is seventh with 15 points.

Although Shabab played without two of its key players - Tariq Al-Ta’ib and Marcelo Ramiro Camacho - the team succeeded in securing all the three points from the encounter.

Nasr keeper Khaled Radhi was sin-binned for bringing down Naji Majrashi on the line of the box in the fifth minute. Abdu Barnawi was then replaced with the second keeper, Abdullah Al-Enezi.

Shabab, however, succeeded in securing a goal only in the 47th minute when Nasser Al-Shamrani headed an Abdullah Shuhail cross into the goal.

Two minutes after the break, Nasr’s Figueroa dribbled through three defenders to put the ball in the right corner of Shabab keeper Waleed Abdullah to level the score at 1-1.

Shuhail put Shabab back in the front when he deceived the keeper to put the ball in the top right corner of the goal.

Figueroa equalized the score once again in the 67th minute when he dribbled past two defenders to kick the ball in the left bottom of the goal.

A minute after the goal, Abdullah Al-Ostta put Shabab ahead for good when he headed the ball into the empty goal after Al-Enezi had left the goal in an attempt to save the situation.

In the other match of the day Al-Ittifaq played out a goalless match against 10-man guest team Al-Ahli at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam.

The drawn game concluded the 14th round of the league leaving Al-Ahli in the fourth place in the standings while Al-Ittifaq sits 10th with 10 points.

The next round will kick off Thursday with three encounters - Hilal vs. Nasr; Al-Ahli vs. Shabab; and Fateh vs. Ittifaq.