Hilal increased its lead in the Saudi Zain Professional League after defeating host Najran 2-1 at the conclusion of Round 13 at Al-Okhdoud Club Stadium Sunday. The 37-year-old striker Al-Hasan Al-Yami scored an early goal for Najran in the 8th minute. Yami dribbled into the box before kicking into the right corner of goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Deayea. Al-Hilal's Romanian midfielder Meriel Radoi shot from outside the box in the 24th minute to level the score. Hilal coach Gerets noticed the ineffectiveness of his striker Eisa Al-Muhiyyani and replaced him with Nawaf Al-Abed in the 38th minute. The two teams ended the first half with one goal each. In the 87th minute, South Korean defender, Young Lee sent a perfect cross to Al-Abed who headed into the goal. Al-Hilal is now on top of the standing with five points clear of runner-up Al-Shabab. Najran is 11th with seven points. Al-Shabab shared two goals with its host Al-Wehdah at King Abdul Aziz Sports City Stadium. Shabab thus lost two important points, missing the chance to catch the leader Al-Hilal. Libyan midfielder Tariq Al-Ta'ib scored for the guest in the 76th minute. While the Wehdah supporters were about to leave their seats, their Moroccan midfielder Rafiq Abdul-Samad scored an equalizer in the 90th minute. After this draw, Al-Shabab is second on the table with 30 points while Al-Wehdah is fifth with 17. In another match, a goal by Rayyan Bilal gave Al-Nasr three points from its encounter against Al-Ittifaq at Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium. The two teams started the match cautiously. However, they were not lucky enough to score. The best chance for the guest came when Yahiya Al-Shihri entered the box and kicked toward the goal, but the ball hit the bar. Al-Nasr performance improved and its players started attacking the goal. Midfielder Khaled Al-Zaila'ee came from the right side to send a cross into the box where Bilal escaped the defenders to head in to the goal from a gliding position. Al-Nasr is seventh on the standing with 15 points while Ittifaq is 12th with nine points.
