Al-Shabab dominate, Al-Ittihad unbeaten: 5 talking points from Roshn Saudi League Round 8

The Roshn Saudi League reached round eight over the weekend and that will be the last domestic action until after the World Cup as Herve Renard’s national squad head to the UAE for their final training camp ahead of Qatar 2022.

Here are five things we learned from the latest action.

1. Al-Ittihad show spirit to Nuno Santo

Will Sunday’s 1-0 win over Al-Wehda be the last in charge for Nuno Santo as his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers are sniffing around? The Jeddah club said that no official offer has been made so it remains to be seen. Whatever happens, the Portuguese boss will look back at the fighting spirit and determination shown by the Tigers with some pride.

On the stroke of halftime, they were reduced to 10 men as Abdulrahman Al-Obod collected a second yellow. At the time, the scoreline was 0-0 and it looked as if Al-Ittihad would be slipping further behind the leaders. It was a physical battle against the newly promoted team.

Last season Al-Ittihad may have lost this game but they just dug in and were determined to get something. They got the maximum return and it was no surprise that it came via a set piece as it has done more than once this season. It was a fantastic header from Ahmed Hegazi and it was enough to take three points and move the Jeddah club into third.

Now it just remains to be seen whether their coach stays. If so, then he has plenty of time to work with his players and make them even harder to beat. It could be an interesting season for Al-Ittihad.

2. Al-Shabab keeping the pressure on everyone else

The leaders defeated Al-Khaleej 4-0 on Saturday to move on to 22 points, which equals the club’s best-ever start. Seven wins and one draw, against Al-Hilal last week, is obviously a