Al-Ittihad were held to a 1-1 away draw at Al-Khaleej on Wednesday thanks to a late, late penalty that cut their lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League from seven points to five.
The results gives second-place Al-Hilal, as well as Al-Nassr and Al-Qadsiah who are a further four points back, some added hope with just 12 games of the season remaining. All three of them won on Tuesday.
Most people expected Al-Ittihad, who won the “Saudi El Classico” clash against Al-Hilal 4-1 on Saturday and have been in great form, to make it five wins out of five when they traveled to Al-Khaleej, who are 18 points behind them in ninth place.
However, it was to be a frustrating first half for the visitors. The home side sat deep, with men behind the ball, but still managed to look dangerous going forward.
For a long time, Al-Ittihad struggled to break the hosts down and things could have been even worse for the league leaders midway through the half. Al-Khaleej thought they had a penalty after 26 minutes, when Hassan Kadesh appeared to handle a cross into the area from Konstantinos Fortounis, but the referee was having none of it and the video assistant referee did not intervene. Minutes later, Al-Khaleej had another penalty appeal turned down.
Karim Benzema came close to breaking the deadlock for the visitors in first-half added time, with a low-driven free-kick. However, Ibrahim Sehic dove to make the crucial save that ensured the teams went in at the break on level terms.
The second half continued along similar lines but the Tigers began to push forward and look more dangerous. The reward for their efforts finally came with 12 minutes remaining.
Fawaz Al-Saqour, set free down the right by the in-form Moussa Diaby, made it to the byline and squared the ball across the six-yard box for Abdulrahman Al-Oboud to tap home at the far post from the closest of ranges, much to the relief of the fans who had traveled from Jeddah.
The relief turned to disappointment in the sixth minute of added time, however, when Al-Khaleej rescued a point in dramatic fashion, with Fortounis firing home from the penalty spot to the delight of the home fans in Riyadh.
Earlier, Al-Ettifaq defeated Al-Taawoun 1-0 to record a third win in four games since the departure of Steven Gerrard as head coach. A late goal from the in-form Gini Wijnaldum broke the deadlock and was enough to move the team up into seventh place in the league.
