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RIYADH: League football returned to the Kingdom following an international break that saw the Saudi national team confirm World Cup qualification, with reigning champions Al-Ittihad and AFC Champions League holders Al-Ahli both dropping vital points against A-Fayha and Al-Shabab respectively.

The start of the fifth round of the Saudi Pro League saw Al-Fayha take the lead at Al-Majma’ah Sports City Stadium with a goal from Fashion Sakala on the stroke of half-time. They were, however, pegged back by Ahmed Al-Ghamdi’s 64th face-saving equalizer for the champions.

The result left Al-Ittihad in second place, two points behind, with Al-Nassr having played one more match.

Meanwhile Al-Ahli also failed to claim three points, drawing 1-1 against visiting Al-Shabab at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. The home team took the lead through Ivan Toney after 15 minutes and looked to be holding on to a nervy win when Josh Brownhill levelled for Al-Shabab with just three minutes left.

Al-Ahli are now in fifth place with nine points from five matches, while Al-Shabab are 12th with five points from the same number of fixtures.

Also on Friday, Al-Kholood thrashed visitors Al-Najma 5-1 to lift themselves to an impressive fourth in the standing.

BARCELONA: La Liga players will protest this weekend the league’s decision to hold a regular season game in Miami, the Spanish soccer players’ union said on Friday.
Players plan to pause for 15 seconds after kickoff in games in the ninth round held from Friday through Monday, Spanish media reported.
The players’ union said in a statement that the “players will protest in a symbolic fashion to denounce the lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence of La Liga regarding the possibility of playing a game in the United States.”
La Liga made official last week its plans to hold the Barcelona-Villarreal game in Miami on Dec. 20.
The union said the captains of the 20 top-flight sides were in agreement with the protest. But the union added it had not asked the Barcelona and Villarreal players to participate in the protest, even though, the union said “they share the basic premise of the protest.”
The ninth round kicked off on Friday with Oviedo hosting Espanyol.
Barcelona players and coach not happy
Earlier Friday, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick, and his players were not pleased at having to travel 7,200 kilometers (4,500 miles) to play a regular season game.
“My players are not happy, I am not happy, but La Liga decided that we will play this game,” Flick said at a press conference in reply to a question about his position on the game.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has defended the move by saying it represents an opportunity to further push into the American sports market.
But for Flick and his players, it represents added travel before a short winter break. Barcelona will also travel to �������� for the Spanish Super Cup starting on Jan. 7.
Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong also criticized playing the game in the US, saying players were already overloaded with travel and a packed playing calendar.
Like Barcelona, Villarreal was also playing in the Champions League.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has defended the game abroad as a key to boosting “revenues in the mid- to long-term” and increasing the value of his competition’s television rights, which lag behind those of England’s Premier League.
Tebas said the league plans to make an international match an annual event.
The match will be at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins.
The league has chartered planes to take to Florida what it estimates will be 2,000 to 3,000 fans from Villarreal, which is the home team.