JEDDAH, 20 November — Al-Ahli and Al-Wahda shared two goals in a lackluster encounter in the King’s Cup soccer league here yesterday while Al-Nasr thrashed Al-Najma 3-0 in an one-sided match.
In the third match of the day, Al-Shabab prevailed over Riyadh 1-0. Al-Ahli and Al-Nasr now logged 16 to occupy second and third positions respectively while Al-Shabab climbed to seventh position with nine points.
Mamadou Bakita put Al Wahda ahead in the 40th minute after wasting a penalty kick in the 27th minute. Al Ahli, despite having home advantage, were given a rough time by the noisy fans because of their lackluster performance. They, however, found their touch late to salvage a draw. International defender Muhammad Al-Shelya equalized for Al-Ahli to keep them in the front-running pack.
Al-Wahda would be ruing their missed chances, especially the opportunity from the spot, and with the single point now have racked up six points.
In Riyadh, Al-Shabab did most of the running in their tie against Al-Riyadh but had to wait till the 81st minute for the winner. Fahd Al-Subaie converted a penalty to give his side full points.
Al-Riyadh, who were scheduled to play Al-Ittihad next week, are idle this week to prepare for their match against Ittihad. The tie has been postponed to Nov. 28.
In Unaizah, Al-Nasr proved their superiority over Al-Najma in their 3-0 romp. The goals were scored by Saad Al-Zahrani, Bandar Tamim and Bolivian Julio Cesar. Abdul Al-Johni of Al-Najma was shown the red card in the 81st minute.
Al-Ittihad are playing against Al-Ansar in Jeddah, Al-Hilal take on Al-Ittifaq in Riyadh and Al-Taie meet Al-Shoala in Hail.
Basim Al-Yami will be playing instead of Osama Al-Walad for Al-Ittihad, which has Argentine Ardiles as its coach, in this match. Al-Hilal will miss three of its international stars in this crucial match. They are Muhammad Al-Daie, Abdullah Al-Suleiman and Omar Al-Ghamdi.
