Al-Hilal kept the Saudi Pro League title race alive by beating Damac 1-0, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scoring the only goal. The result left the race open and kept pressure on Al-Nassr, which still had a postponed match in hand and was due to play Al-Ahli.
Al-Nassr had 76 points and led by five with four rounds remaining, while a win in its next match would lift it to 79. It was also scheduled to meet Al-Hilal in round 32, with Al-Qadsiah and Al-Shabab coming before that derby and Al-Hazem and Al-Khaleej on Al-Hilal's side before its pending match. The league champion is decided after 30 rounds on points, with three points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss, and goal difference the main tiebreaker when teams are level.
That set up a tight finish for a club chase that has stretched back years. Al-Nassr last won the Saudi league in 2019 and finished runner-up in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, a run that leaves little room for error now that every result can shift the table. The immediate uncertainty is not whether the title race has heat, but whether Al-Nassr can convert its match in hand into the points it needs before the round 32 meeting with Al-Hilal.