JEDDAH, 29 December 2004 — Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal launched their second round campaigns in the King Fahd Cup soccer tournament with important wins against separate rivals.
In Madinah Hilal found no difficulty winning against Al-Ansar of Madinah 3-1 at Prince Muhammad ibn Abdul Aziz stadium.
Al-Ansar drew first blood in the 19th minute courtesy of Costa. Hilal quickly equalized in the 23rd minute on a goal by Tafarees.
Sami Al-Jaber scored the second goal for Hilal five minutes into the second half followed by another Tafarees goal in the 76th minute to put Hilal ahead for good.
The victory gave Hilal three points and 23 total as the Riyadh-based team surged to the top of the table. Al-Ansar stayed in 10th place with 12 points.
At Prince Muhammad ibn Fahad stadium in Dammam, Ahli kept winning this time against Al-Ittifaq of Dammam 1-0. The only goal of the match came in the 76th minute by Majed Abu Yabis from a nice shot outside the penalty box. Ittifaq remained in the 11th position with 8 points while Ahli boosted their total to 21 points.
In Jeddah host Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr of Riyadh battled to a 1-1 draw yesterday.
Nasr’s Mansour Althagafi struck the game’s first goal in the 14th minute before Brazilian Sergio equalized in the 24th.
Both teams failed to score during the drab second half.
Ittihad is ahead of Nasr in fourth place on goal difference although they each have 19 points.
