Al-Hilal crushed cup winners Ahli Jeddah 3-0 on Monday to ensure their leadership in the Saudi League. Libyan star Tarek Al-Tayeb opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a trade mark free kick, Saudi hitman Yasser Al-Kahtani doubled the lead in the 51st minute and Fahad Al-Mubarak completed the rout one minute into stoppage time. The Riyadh giants, who have already booked their place in the final stage, reached the 53rd point to secure top spot, while Ahli, who fielded a second-string squad, remained fifth on 27 points having no hope of making the final four berth. However, Ahli's bitter rivals Ittihad Jeddah beat holders Al-Shabab 2-1, with the latter's Egyptian defender Amir Azmi still missing for unspecified reasons. The former PAOK Saloniki stopper has not featured in Al-Shabab's latest 4 matches despite being fit to play. Ittihad took a 46th minute lead through Saudi international defender Reda Tukar before Naji Majrashi equalized for the visitors eight minutes past the hour mark. Al-Shabab defender Saleh Seddik's own goal in the 77th minute handed Ittihad a morale-boosting victory after their Saudi Cup defeat at the hands of Ahli. Ittihad climbed to second on 44 points, while Al-Shabab remained fourth with 41 points as both teams have their final stage place guaranteed Ittihad, Shabab and Wehda will endure a play-off to determine which team will advance to face Hilal in the league's final.
