Exciting and breathtaking encounters continued in the Saudi Premier League after a one-week break due to Haj season. The top three teams maintained their positions thanks to the preparatory camps. Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab took the opportunity to play several friendly games with some teams from the first and second divisions. Ittihad Jeddah, which tops the league, had a bright restart following Thursday 2-0 victory over Al-Raed in Qassim. Defender Hamad Al-Montashiri put his side ahead after 24 minutes before he assisted Abdul Aziz Al-Subiani in sealing the win late in the game. The win extended Al-Ittihad's unbeaten run to 13 matches to stay at the top with 33 points. Meanwhile, defending champion Al-Hilal also continued its hot chase, winning against the bottom side Abha 4-1 at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd stadium in Riyadh. Mohammed Al-Anbr scored a brace for Al-Hilal after Ahmed Al-Suwaileh opened the score in the first half. Al-Fraidi made it four in the second half while Saleh Al-Mohammadi reduced the margin for Abha by scoring from the spot. The second-placed Al-Hilal needs three points to share the top spot of Al-Ittihad. Placed third, Al-Shabab added three points to its tally after a 2-0 win over Najran. Nasser Al-Shamrani scored his side's two goals to top the list of the scorers with 10 goals. Al-Shabab has 25 points, five points ahead of Al-Ittifaq, which won 1-0 over Al-Watani, thanks to second half goal by Ibrahim Al-Moghanem. Al-Ittifaq edged Al-Nasr from the fourth spot after Al-Nasr lost 2-0 to Al-Ahli at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah. Hassan Al-Raheb and Mohammed Masad secured Al-Ahli's win from the first half goals. Al-Ahli is now in the sixth spot with 16 points from 10 games while Al-Nasr remained fifth on 18. Al-Wehdah suffered a setback with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Al-Hazm at the Education Stadium in Al-Rass. The win did not help Al-Hazm to advance to a better position as Najran comes eighth on 11 points and ahead on goals difference. __
