Al Hilal battle back for draw

Al Hilal came back twice from a goal down to salvage a point from their trip to fellow high-fliers Al-Ittifaq in the Saudi Arabian Premier League. Essa Al-Mehyani was Al Hilal's hero with both goals, scoring in the 46th and 52nd minutes to cancel out efforts from Al-Ittifaq duo Yahya Ateen and Hamed Al-Hamed, who struck in the 13th and 51st minutes, respectively. The draw leaves second-placed Al Hilal a point behind leaders Al Shabab and three clear of third-placed Al-Ittifaq. Elsewhere, Al-Fateh climbed up to fifth with a 2-1 home win over Al-Faysali, goals from Ahmad Boabeed and Hamdan Al-Hamdan putting the hosts 2-0 up before the visitors netted a consolation 14 minutes from time through an Faiz Al Aliany own goal. In today's other fixture, a Dusan Djokic brace helped Najran recover from an early deficit to beat rock-bottom Al-Ansar 2-1. Al-Ansar, who have yet to pick up a point this season, took a shock fourth-minute lead through Ibrahim Al Subaia but Djokic struck in the 39th and 82nd minutes to earn his side the win.