Hilal’s star striker Yasser Al-Qahtani silenced the Ittihad supporters after he struck with a header in the 48th minute in the highly physical contest that yielded a welter of yellow cards from both teams.
Ittihad never recovered after the Al-Qahtani stunner, failing to find the equalizer and wasting at least three scoring opportunities in the closing minutes.
Hilal and Ittihad tied on 48 points but the Riyadh-based club won the prestigious crown by virtue of their one-goal edge in the head-to-head matches between them. Their match in Riyadh ended in a goalless draw.
Thus did Hilal complete the victory virtually via the backdoor that gave them the Crown Prince Cup and league double. And Hilal’s triumph against a side that had long dominated the league justified their gambit to sacrifice the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup final last week by not fielding key players like Al-Qahtani, Omar Al-Ghamdi, Mohammad Al-Shalhoub and Tariq Al-Tayeeb. As a result, Al-Nasr won the match 2-1.
Hilal set up this title showdown with Ittihad by drawing their two pending matches against Al-Shabab. For Ittihad the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow, bombing out in the big match after coming tantalizingly close to winning the title.
Now, Ittihad will be looking to win the new Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s Cup to save their season.
The match watched by more than 20,000 crowd that packed every available space at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium was a fitting climax to a long season.
The home team were in control in the first half, making several attempts in the first 10 minutes before Khaled Al-Anqari made his first shot on goal for Hilal.
Brazilian Chico got his chance for Ittihad in the 15th minute only to be routinely blocked by the veteran Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Daie. To Al-Daie’s credit, he kept Ittihad from scoring a goal despite the numerous chances that came their way.
Among the players to receive yellow cards were Adnan Fallatah and Chico for Ittihad and Al-Qahtani, Al-Tayeeb and Abdulateef Al-Ghanam for Hilal.
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