Hilal increased its lead on top of Zain Saudi Professional League after posting a 3-2 win over host Al-Faisali at Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz Sports City Stadium in Al-Majma'ah city, Thursday. Syrian midfielder put Faisali in the lead after 31 minutes. However, his teammate midfielder Fahd Al-Mubarak made it 1-1 through an own goal. Albanian striker Migen Memelli put Faisali back in the lead seven minutes after the break only to see Brazilian midfielder Thiago Neves level the score for Hilal in the 72nd minute. Striker Yassir Al-Qahtani sealed the win for Hilal two minutes later. The win consolidated Hilal's position on top of the standings with 34 points. The Blues still have two matches in hand. Faisali on the other hand remains sixth on 23 points. Al-Nasr is second on 29 points, ahead of Al-Ittihad (third) on goal difference. Ittifaq, which is fourth also has 29 points, but has an 8-goal difference with Ittihad. The league takes a month-long break as the Saudi national team prepares to take part in the Asian Cup, which will be held in Qatar from Jan. 7-29. In another encounter Al-Ittifaq edged visitors Al-Shabab 1-0 at Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam. Ittifaq's Brazilian midfielder Matthaeus scored the only goal of the game in the 21st minute. Al-Ittifaq is fourth on 29 points, while Shabab is on its tail with 25 points. Al-Qadisiyah also scored a 1-0 win over visiting team Al-Hazm in Al-Khobar. Tunisian defender Moine Chaabani scored the winner from the spot three minutes from time. The win lifted Qadisiyah from the 13 spot on the standings up 10th. It has 15 points. The team still has a match in hand. Hazm, meanwhile, sits in the bottom of the standings with six points. It also has a match in hand. In Al-Ahsa, Al-Ahli blanked host Al-Fateh 2-0. Brazilian striker Victor Simoes put Ahli in the lead in the 21st minute before his compatriot midfielder Marcinho da Silva sealed the win four minutes from time. Despite the win, Ahli remains eighth on 20 points, while Fateh is 11th on 15. Al-Ittihad coach resigns Al-Ittihad's Portuguese coach Manuel Jose has resigned. Ibrahim Alwan, President of Al-Ittihad, announced Thursday that the club has accepted his resignation. The coach said he is ready to pay the contract cancelation penalty ($400,000) which the two sides agreed upon while signing the contract. News doing the rounds in Jeddah was that the coach found it difficult to deal with the players. It also affected the results of the team, which is third on the standings. The team failed to record a win in the last eight encounters.
