JEDDAH, 9 May 2003 — The last three matches of the second phase of the King Fahd Cup Soccer Tournament was played yesterday, but the results failed to alter the top four standings in the tourney.
Second-placed Al Ahli defeated third-placed Qadisiya 3-0 at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium with the former holding a 1-0 edge at the break.
Ibrahim Suwaied scored the lone goal in the first session when he latched onto a rebound from a Qadisiya defender and struck true.
After the interval, international Tunisian professional Khaled Badra hit Ahli’s second in the 20th minute, convert-ing from the penalty spot.
Ahli’s domination was complete when they rounded off the tally in injury time, with Muhammad Barakat doing the spadework for Bushaeb Limbarki to fin-ish off clinically. Ahli remain second on 47 points with Qadisiya staying third with 42 points.
In Riyadh, at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium, Al-Hilal got the better of leaders Al-Ittihad 2-1 and were hoping for their Riyadh rival Al-Nasr to falter in Buraidah. But Nasr did not oblige as they defeated Al-Raed 2-0 to clinch the fourth position leaving Hilal in fifth spot and out of the top four competition. Nasr had to either lose or draw their final engagement for Hilal to squeak into the final four.
Nasr now play Qadisiya in the first step-ladder knockout match on Thursday. The match will be played in Alkhobar. The winner of this encounter will next meet Al-Ahli in Jeddah the next week, and the eventual winner will battle Al-Ittihad for the title.
