RIYADH - Defending Saudi League champions Al Shabab lost further ground on leaders Al Hilal on Wednesday as they went down to their fourth league defeat of the season, losing 1-0 to top flight newcomers Al Faisaly.

Al Shabab, who will be in the AFC Champions League 2007 draw on Friday, remain in fourth place in the Saudi standings, nine points adrift of their city rivals after failing to find a way past the defence of an Al Faisaly side that had lost seven of their first 11 games of the season.

The winning goal came from an Abdo Birnawi free kick that sailed past Al Shabab goalkeeper Walid Abdullah three minutes into the second half.

Al Hilal, who will be Saudi Arabia's other representatives in next year's AFC Champions League after winning last season's Crown Prince Cup, are six points clear of Al Wahda at the top after a scoreless draw with Al Khaleej.

Meanwhile, two-time AFC Champions League winners Al Ittihad scored a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Al Taei with Redha Tukar scoring the only goal of the game in the 12th minute.