Ittihad beat champion Al-Hilal 2-1 and Al-Nasr downed 10-man Ra'id to bring the Zain Saudi Premier League to a close Thursday. The night's results also brought forward the eight teams which will take part in the King's Cup this season. Hilal finished on top despite the defeat with 56 points. Ittihad is second with 45 points, Al-Nasr third (43), while Al-Shabab is fourth (40). Al-Wehdah and Al-Ahli finished fifth and sixth respectively with 28 points each, but the former going ahead with an 8-goal difference. Al-Hazm edged Al-Fateh to take the seventh spot with a 3-goal difference. Al-Ra'id, meanwhile, followed Najran out after the Nasr beat Ra'id 4-2 at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Al-Ittihad worked hard for its 2-1 win over Hilal at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Yasser Al-Qahtani put the champion in front, but Mohammad Noor leveled the score soon after. Algerian striker Abdul-Malik Ziaya then put Ittihad on top for good. Hilal succeeded in scoring the goal through Qahtani in the first minute of the match. The sudden goal made Ittihad players launch serious attacks against its rival, but initially its efforts failed to bear fruit. As Hilal continued to threaten Ittihad goal time and again, the Jeddah club's keeper Mabrouk Zaid stood like a wall. Zaid did well to block a free kick taken by Thiago Nevez midway through the first half. The energetic Swedish midfielder of Hilal, Christian Wilhelmsson, was replaced by striker Mohammed Al-Anber due to an injury. Ittihad skipper Mohammad Noor succeeded in leveling the score from the spot five minutes after the break when Algerian striker teammate Ziaya was brought down in the box. The Algerian added his name to the scorecard when he headed a Noor's cross shot into the right corner of Hilal keeper Mohammed Al-Deayea. Hilal was reduced to 10 men in the 82nd minute when Romanian midfielder Meriel Radoi was sent off for his behavior against Ittihad defender Rashid Al-Raheeb after Raheeb and Qahtani got into a verbal quarrel. In another match, Al-Fateh defeated visitor Al-Ahli 3-1 at Prince Abdullah Bin Jalawi Sports City Stadium. Rabea Sofiyani, Faisal Al-Jama'an and Ramzi Bin Younes scored for Fateh, while Victor Simoes scored Ahli's only goal. At King Abdul Aziz Sports City Stadium, Al-Wehdah played a goalless tie against Al-Hazm. Najran and Ittifaq shared four goals at Al-Okhdoud Club Stadium. Depa scored first for Najran before Christian Danalache of Ittifaq leveled the score. Hamad Al-Hamad increased the score for Ittifaq, but Turki Al-Thaqafi put Najran level soon after. At Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium, Al-Qadisiyah edged its host Al-Shabab 1-0. The only goal of the match came early from the spot through Julian Cominges.
