Al Fateh, Damac stay up, Al Okhdood hope "history repeats" on final day | OneFootball

Al Fateh defeated Damac, but both teams had reason to celebrate.

A little further south, Al Okhdood saw off Al Raed, right when they needed it most, to seal a stay of execution.

Ultimately, and with one round of the 2024-25 Roshn Saudi League remaining, three teams are battling to avoid the last two relegation spots. With Al Raed already gone, the race for top-flight survival will go to the wire.

On Thursday in Khamis Mushait, Al Fateh prevailed 1-0 against 10-man Damac to guarantee their place in next season’s RSL, Mourad Batna getting the game’s only goal to complete his club’s mission.

Bottom of the table from Matchweek 5 all the way to Matchweek 20, Al Fateh are now 12th, five points clear of the drop zone. Finally, though, safety is ensured.

“We deserve it from a long time ago,” forward Matias Vargas said. “We fight every game; we did everything asked of us. The people support us, everybody worked for it. I’m very proud of my teammates, of the whole club.

“It was very important not to arrive to the last game [Monday’s home clash with Al Nassr] afraid of going down. Every game is important, so we need to keep winning and keep fighting like this.”

Despite the defeat, Damac are safe, too. At 14th, they are four above Al Okhdood in 16th – another campaign in the top tier theirs.

“[The Al Fateh loss] changes the table, but I don’t want to stay near to the [relegation] line, I want to stay high in the table,” goalkeeper Florin Nita said before paying tribute to Damac's supporters as the club played at home for the final time this season.

“They were amazing fans today. I want to thank you for tonight, and also for every game they support us. Thank you for everything.”

Not too far from Damac, in Najran, Al Okhdood triumphed 1-0 in front of their faithful to grab an all-important three points. With it, Paulo Sergio’s side jumped a spot in the standings. Heading into Monday’s trip to Al Khaleej, they trail 15th-placed Al Wehda by two points.

Thus, victory in Dammam in the season finale, coupled with an Al Wehda defeat at Al Ettifaq, would see Al Okhdood do it (second from bottom, Al Orobah can also beat the drop but need the other results to go their way).

However, that won’t affect Al Okhdood. That’s according, at least, to Saviour Godwin, who on Thursday notched another vital winner for his team.

“First of all, I want to say a big thank you to the management, from the players to the coaches - we really pushed hard in training, and you saw that reflected in the game,” Godwin told the SPL. “An important game for us to continue to fight.

“The next game is also important. We are going to put the same fight we put in. I’m really happy to contribute to score this important goal at this important time. We did it last season and also, I think history is repeating itself. Hopefully it goes our way.

“We have one more game, which is like a final for us. We’re going to fight until the end. We did it last season. This season we have the capacity even more to do it again.”