JEDDAH, 25 June 2005 — Al-Ittihad of Jeddah brought down Sfaxin of Tunisia 2-0 last night in the final first leg in the Arab Champions League soccer tournament in Tunis.
Ittihad take a two-goals lead when they host the Tunisians in the return leg next Friday at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
The first game of the home-and-away series for third place between Riyadh’s Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli of Jeddah will be played today in Riyadh. Ahli host the second leg next Thursday.
Ibrahim Suwaid was the hands down star of the match, scoring both goals for Ittihad. He scored the first goal from a rebounded ball from the goalie in the 61st minute then added another marker in the 4th minute of the injury time killing Sfaxin team’s hope for the equalizer.
During the first 30 minutes of the match, Sfaxin were the more dangerous and better organized team. Sfaxin though met a very confident Ittihad defense line that managed to thwart their attacks.
Two Tunisian players were red carded for hard tackle.
