JEDDAH, 28 March 2005 — Al-Ahli suffered a disappointing 3-2 defeat at home to Al-Nasr yesterday in the King Fahd Cup Soccer Touranament at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
The Riyadh-based Nasr squad added two second half goals after a 9th minute strike to frustrate Ahli and their fans who had come hoping for a much-needed victory.
Instead, Ahli were stuck in fifth position with 26 points, eight points adrift of fourth-ranked Nasr with 34 and face the tall order of winning all their remaining five games against Ohod, Al-Qadisiya, Al-Ittifaq, Al-Shabab and Al-Ansar if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the Final Four.
Lapses in defense worked like deadweight in Ahli’s cause including one where Mansour Al-Sagafi broke free from the Ahli defense inside the box to boot in the goal that gave Nasr a 2-1 lead in the 63rd minute.
Ahli went in search for the equalizer only to get bombarded with another Nasr goal in the 75th minute when Saad Al-Harthi flicked in one from close range.
Ahli’s two goals came from Brazilian pair Rogero and Flavio who struck in the 19th and 90th minutes off a nice cross and free kick respectively.
Ali Yazeed put Nasr first on the scoresheet when he netted a goal in the 9th minute.
The win was Nasr’s 10th in 18 games, while Ahli absorbed their sixth loss in 17 outings.
The tournament takes a breather for a week and resumes on April 2 with a lone match pitting Ahli against Ohod in Jeddah.
