Al-Ittihad shocked at Al-Taawoun as title race blown wide open

Al-Taawoun defeated Al-Ittihad 2-1 on Wednesday, stunning the league leaders and blowing the Roshn Saudi League title race wide open.

Fine strikes in each half from Fahad Al-Rashidi mean that the Jeddah club are still three points clear of Al-Nassr in second but both now have five games left — the chasing team have a slightly better goal difference — and there is all to play for.

The Tigers had won 11 and drawn one of the previous 12 and all knew that victory in Buraidah against the hosts, who may have been in sixth but were on a five game winless streak, would be a huge step toward a first title since 2009. Yet, against all odds, they have stumbled in what is just a second loss of the season and memories of last year — when they threw away a commanding lead at the top of the table to Al-Hilal — must not be far away. The pressure is on.

It was a fine performance from Al-Taawoun, who took the lead after 16 minutes. Pericles Camusca’s men patiently moved the ball around the middle of the park and the seventh pass came from Saad Al-Nasser. It found Al-Rashidi just nipping in behind Ahmed Hegazi on the edge of the area. There was still much to do but he brought the ball down perfectly to smash a rising first-time shot while on the run past Marcelo Grohe.

While the strike was a special one, it marked a worrying development. For a team that has had one of the tightest defenses in the world this season, it was the third game in succession in which Ittihad had failed to keep a clean sheet.

Ittihad had chances, most notably the in-form Hamdallah shooting over from close range when getting on the end of a cross from the right, but the quality did not match the quality. Hegazi headed a corner over and Mailson was called on to