JEDDAH: After two successive defeats Al-Ittihad are back in the running for the Saudi Professional League title when they edged past Al-Ahli 2-1 in round 10 of the Saudi Professional League at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium in Jeddah.
With this win Ittihad increased their points tally to 18 and are in third place from eight matches and has two games in hand.
Ittihad opened their in the 12th minute when Amin Al-Chermiti blasted the ball into the net following a perfect pass from Manaf.
In the second half Ahli went in search for the equalizer but failed to beat the rival defense. Ittihad’s Al-Chermiti was shown the red card after he head-butted rival Muhammad Masaad.
However, it was Ittihad who struck. Manaf again had a hand in the second goal following a defense-splitting pass to Al-Zabidi who made no mistake from close, which put an end to any hope for Ahli to make a comeback.
The only goal for Ahli came from Javier Tulido during injury time. Ahli is still in the fifth position with 11 points with four losses.
In the other derby in Eastern Province, Qadesiya and Ittifaq drew 1-1. Ittifaq is 11th in the standing with six points and Qadesiya is tenth with seven points.
