By Mohammed Al-Kinani
JEDDAH – Al-Shabab lost hope of catching up with Zain Saudi Professional League leader Al-Hilal after playing out a goalless draw with Al-Ittifaq at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium Saturday.
Shabab, runner-up with 37 points, trails Hilal by 10 points. Ittifaq is seventh with 21 points and a match in hand.
In other action on the night Al-Ahli beat Al-Wehdah 2-0 and Najran beat Al-Fateh 1-0.
Shabab and Ittifaq, meanwhile, played out a dour game, which was attended by a small number of spectators.
Shabab coach brought in Brazilian midfielder Marcelo Camacho for striker Abdul Aziz Al-Sa’aran, but the change failed to bring about a change on the scoresheet.
Ittifaq’s Bulgarian coach also made a couple of changes, however, they also failed to bring the desired result.
The last 20 minutes saw both teams create a number of chances but failed to finish them.
Shabab was in action 48 hours after lifting the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Cup.
Abdullah Al-Ostta almost gave Shabab the winning goal when his blazing shot two minutes from time hit the bar and landed in front of the goalline only to be cleared by the Ittifaq defenders.
At Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, Al-Ahli swapped positions with Al-Wehdah after the host, Ahli, blanked Al-Wehdah 2-0.
Ahli had Wehdah defender Sulaiman Ameedo to thank for the opening goal after he headed Ahli striker Mohammed Al-Sifri’s kick into his own goal instead of heading it over the post.
Ahli scored the second through midfielder Mohammed Musa’ad, who put the Malik Mo’adh pass into the right corner of Wehdah keeper Assaf Al-Qarni 15 minutes after the break.
With one match in hand, Ahli sits fifth in the standings with 26 points.
Wehdah is sixth with 23 points, with two matches in hand.
The third match saw Najran beat its host Al-Fateh 1-0 at the Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Sports City.
Nigerian midfielder Mousa Sulaiman scored the only goal of the match in the 68th minute for Najran.
The win puts Najran in the 10th spot with 13 points, while Al-Fateh is 8th with 21.
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