JEDDAH, 12 January 2007 — Ittihad topped Group A of the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Competition with eight points in first place after securing an important 4-3 win against Al-Faisali at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah.
Al-Faisali were first to score in the 29th minute through Wasel Al-Duwaibi from a corner kick header.
Abdullah Al-Waked of Ittihad scored the equalizer in the 39th minute from a strong shot ending the first half 1-1. Muhammad Al-Suwaid gave Ittihad the upper hand after scoring the second goal in the 50th minute. Keta scored three minutes later from a nice pass in front of the goalie. He outmaneuvered him and scored the third goal for Ittihad.
Al-Faisali’s second goal came from a fatal mistake in the 60th minute by Ittihad defender Al-Muwallad. Keta struck again and scored the fourth goal for Ittihad in the 68th minute with a superb shot from inside the penalty box. The third goal for Al-Faisali came in the injury time by Majed Abdullah from a nice strong shot. Al-Faisali dropped to second place with five points.
In Makkah, Al-Nasr escaped from a possible draw against Al-Wehda in the same Group A match. The match ended 3-2 in favor of Nasr. Nasr came back alive with this important win and now Wehda are in critical condition with two matches left in the group. Muhammad Al-Shahrani drew first blood in the 17th minute from a nice through ball and he put the ball in the left-hand side of the goalie. Khaled Salama of Nasr scored the second goal in the 67th minute from a shot that was deflected when it hit a Wehda defender to go into the back of the net on the left-hand side of the goalie. Muhammad Al-Shahrani came back again in the 74th minute when he came face to face with the goalie and put the ball on the right-hand side of the goalie. Many thought that the game would end 3-0 and the Wehda team would surrender with only 15 minutes left. Wehda came back again. The first goal for Wehda came in the 85th minute from a nice header through Hani Al-Jefri. Hani sparkled again in the 89th minute this time through the header. Wehda came close to scoring the equalizer with two chances but failed to score.
Wehda dropped to the last position with only two points and Nasr advanced to the third position with five points.
Meanwhile, in today’s matches, Ahli will face Al-Hazem in a delayed match of Group C that will take place in Al-Rass. Ahli defeated Al-Hazem in the first leg 6-1 in Jeddah. Ahli are currently in second place with 7 points and Al-Hazem are third with 3 points. Ahli has the golden chance to defeat Al-Hazem and take the lead away from Shabab who tied on Wednesday against Taie of Hail 0-0 in Riyadh. Shabab are temporarily on first place with eight points from four matches.
In Riyadh, Hilal will face Khaleej in a Group C match and Qadisiya and Ittifaq will face each other in a Dammam derby match. Currently, Hilal are at first place with 7 points from two wins and one draw. Qadisiya are second with 6 points from two wins and one defeat; Ittifaq are third with two points and last are Khaleej having a point only. It is expected that Hilal will secure the game’s three points and advance in the lead while Qadisiya and Ittifaq are not certain who is going to win. If Ittifaq secure the game’s three points then that would serve Hilal’s best interest. A draw will also be in favor of Hilal while if Qadisiya won the match, then Qadisiya will chase Hilal for the lead.
