What a Compressed Top of The Saudi Pro League Means for the Title Race After Al Hilal and Al Nassr Play out a 1-1 Draw
Al Hilal went into their clash against Al Nassr with a 100% record in the Saudi Pro League; this record was relinquished after a 1-1 draw prevented Jorge Jesus’ men from winning.
The ramifications of the draw are that Al Hilal still lead the table with 25 points; however, Al Ittihad have closed to winning a point of the leaders, while Al Nassr remain six points off the pace.
The draw halted Al Hilal’s momentum in the Saudi Pro League and gave the rest of the league a blueprint on how to stop what has been a flawless machine this season.
Speaking after the match, Al Hilal’s Kalidou Koulibaly said that it was “A good game against a nice team who were prepared.”
He added, “They made a lot of difficulties for us, but the draw was fair because, as I said, they made a lot of trouble for us. But we always believed we could score this goal, and we scored it. So, we can be happy tonight.”
Koulibaly captured the mood in the Al Hilal camp as calm and determined to bounce back. The former Napoli and Chelsea center-back stated, “We are used to seeing Al Hilal always win, but today was a tough game. We drew, and we can feel OK. It’s difficult to win every game, to try to win every game. But we can be happy also because it was against a strong team, and we were away from home. We were behind from the first minute, but we showed good character. I’m proud of my team.”
As for Al Nassr, who are also unbeaten in the Saudi Pro League, with five wins and four draws, the draw was encouraging as they look to keep pace with Al Hilal and Al Ittihad occupying the top two slots.
Al Nassr are next in action in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday when they host Al Ain at 19:00 GMT+1 before they travel to Al Riyadh in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, with kickoff slated for 18:00 GMT+1.
Al Hilal are also in action in the AFC Champions League on Monday at 19:00 GMT+1 before they host Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League on Friday at 15:45 GMT+1.
