The Riyadh giants are now 6 points behind leaders Al-Ittihad and trail their city rivals by 3 Al-Shabab strengthened their grip on third place in the Roshn Saudi League after defeating Al-Khaleej 3-2 at Prince Mohammed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam on Tuesday. With seven matches left, the Riyadh club are now six points behind leaders Al-Ittihad and trail second place Al-Nassr by three. Al-Khaleej, meanwhile, remain in the relegation zone (15th) on 17 points. Al-Shabab took an early two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Cristian Guanca after four minutes and Aaron Boupendza two minutes later. Al-Khaleej rallied to get back into the match with goals from Fabio Martinez on 14 minutes and Sokol Cikalleshi on 38 minutes. Al-Shabab’s Hussain Al-Qahtani had the final word, however, scoring the winner in the 59th minute. The result allowed Al-Shabab to open a gap of four points on reigning champions Al-Hilal, who the previous day had drawn 2-2 with Al-Tai at home.