Al-Ittihad remain in 11th place on 31 points, but only two points off the relegation places with two matches left DUBAI: A day after Al-Hilal confirmed a record 16th Saudi Professional League (SPL) title, attention turned to the relegation battle and the race for AFC Champions League places for Jeddah rivals Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli on the second night of the season"s 28th round. For struggling Jeddah giants Al-Ittihad it was a case of one step forward and another step back as they could only manage 1-1 draw with fellow relegation-battlers Al-Fateh, to leave them still in danger of what would be a disastrous drop from the SPL. Mitchell te Vrede had given Al-Fateh the lead on 42 minutes, with Romarinho equalizing two minutes into the second half. Al-Ittihad remain in 11th place on 31 points, but only two points off the relegation places with two matches left. On Friday they will meet second place A- Nassr, and a defeat could prove a major blow if other results go against them. At the other end of the table, Al-Ahli, the favorites for third place before the enforced break, had suddenly found themselves in battle with Al-Wehda after three wins and three losses since the season’s restart. Al-Shabab took the lead on 21 minutes when Danilo Asprilla’s pass to Abdullah Al Hamdan was laid off to the Argentinian Cristian Guanca, who side-footed brilliantly from outside the penalty area. Six minutes before the break, Al-Ahli struck back after a stunning run by Abdulfattah Asiri was capped with a fine cross which was dispatched firmly by Ali Al Asmari. Noticeably energized by the equalizer, Al-Ahli dominated the rest of the half and could have taken the lead, but bad luck and some last ditch defending by Al-Shabab meant that teams went into the break all-square. With Al-Ahli’s momentum halted, Al-Shabab started the second half in the ascendancy, but there were few chances created at either end. Syrian international Omar Al Somah could have won it for Al-Ahli when his header struck the bar on 74 minutes, but in the end the draw was a fair reflection of a relatively uneventful match. With fourth-placed Al-Wehda losing 2-1 at Al-Faisaly earlier in the day, the draw now leaves Al-Ahli a point ahead in third place and the race for qualification to the Champions League. For Asiri, the architect of the Al-Ahli’s equalizer, the result proved bittersweet on what could be his last match for the club before joining Al-Nassr. “I think the draw was fair,” he said. “Of course we wanted to win, we had two or three chances, but we couldn’t score. We wanted to win so that the coach maybe can rotate some players in the coming matches, so we can maintain third place. We’ve had injuries and it"s up to the coach to pick the team, he has his own views and he can see how the players are training and he picks his team accordingly." He also sent out a message to the fans that he will be leaving behind. “I want to thank Al-Ahli’s supporters,” Asiri added. “I wanted to leave having achieved something big for them. In every match I gave everything I had, not once did give less than my best, never played for just the money. We wanted more, but it was not to be.” His teammate Mohammed Al Majhad was disappointed that Al-Ahli could not bounce back with a win after their latest defeat. “We wanted to please the fans after the loss to Damac, but unfortunately couldn’t win,” he said. “We played better, but Al-Shabab are a very strong team. We had a lot of injuries, but those available have done their job.” “We are not certain of third place, but the coach has spoken to us and said that he will only be satisfied with that,” he added. Al-Shabab defender Abdullah Al Shamekh was pleased with his side’s display, and believed they had the edge over their opponents. “I think we performed well today,” he said. We were in control for long periods of the match, but we were unfortunate. We had chances, but were unlucky, but it was fine in the end. I don’t think we had too many difficulties. We had most of the play, except for the period after Al-Ahli scored their goal, we lost concentration for about five minutes." Brazilian midfielder Seba echoed his colleague’s view. “I’m very happy with the way all the players performed,” he said. “We dominated the majority of the match, especially in the first half…and I think we deserved to win. We came very determined and we fought to the end. Al-Ahli are strong, and these are the matches we like to play in, we played very well but unfortunately couldn’t win.” In the fourth and final match of the day, Al-Ettifaq beat Al-Taawoun by solitary goal. All eyes will now turn to the weekend when Al-Ahli will visit Abha Club, and Al-Ittihad host Al-Nassr.