JEDDAH, 6 March 2006 — The Saudi Soccer League west coast derby last night between Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad ended in a 2-2 draw at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Ahli drew first blood when Hussein Abdul Ghani came up to a free kick at the 30th minute of the first half and curved it amazingly in the far right side as Ittihad keeper and fans stared in gaze. Ittihad pushed hard to get an equalizer the remainder of the first half and they nearly succeeded when their defender headed the ball that hit the top post. The first half ended 1-0 for Ahli.
In the second half Ittihad came charging back. They converted a penalty kick in the 54th minute as Muhammad Kalon put the ball in the left hand side of the goalie. Ahli fans were then stunned when Ittihad scored their second goal from a fantastic shot from outside the penalty box by Muhammad Nur in the 56th minute.
Down by one goal Ahli launched more attacks in a bid to equalize, which they did on a penalty kick awarded after striker Jawad Akdar was tackled in the 81st minute. Ittihad goalie was red carded and Al-Dokhi was put in his place. Abdul Hak Al-Arrief scored the equalizer. Ittihad are in third place with 30 points and Ahli fourth with 29 points.
