RIYADH — Al-Hilal stormed past Al-Faisaly 2-1 to lift the third Saudi Professional League (SPL), or MBS League, title in a row winning a fierce encounter held at King Fahd Stadium here on Monday evening. Al-Hilal retained the SPL title in the 30th and final round of matches that brought about an exciting end to the league season. Al-Hilal, with this win, became the most successful team in SPL, holding as many as 18 titles in its history. In the 29th and penultimate round of the matches held on Thursday, Al-Hilal, with ten players, defeated Al-Fateh 3-0. With this, Al-Hilal and Al Ittihad tied with 64 points each but Al-Hilal had an advantage in the direct confrontation, and all it needed was a victory to take the fifth SPL title in a span of six years. With Monday's final round of matches, Al-Hilal emerged tops with 67 points, while its rivals Al-Ittihad could log only 65 points following a goalless match with Al-Batin in Jeddah. The fact that they failed to strike true in the crucial match, gave Al-Hilal the pass to the title with their pulsating display Monday. The Nigerian striker Odion Ighalo turned in superb match-winning display by being on target for Al-Hilal's two goals. He scored the first goal in the 7th minute while his second came in the 64th minute. Both the goals were crowning effort to clinical and crucial passes from the Brazilian Michael Delgado. The lone goal of Al-Faisaly came in the form of a header from Clayson in the 70th minute.
