Al-Taawoun miss chance to go joint-top of SPL in narrow loss to Al-Ittihad

RIYADH: Sergio Conceicao’s tenure at Al-Ittihad may have found its true starting point. The defending champions edged this season’s surprise package Al-Taawoun 1-0 in a tense clash at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on Saturday to move up to fifth place on 23 points. Before the Saudi Pro League went on hiatus for more than a month, Conceicao had just one league victory to his name. To say that start was rocky is an understatement, with defeats to Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli combined with draws against Al-Fayha and Al-Khaleej leaving his opening weeks far from convincing.