JEDDAH, 17 February 2007 — The match between archrivals Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad ended in a 2-1 victory for Hilal in the Saudi Football League last night. The match was moved from Jeddah to Riyadh as penalty for Ittihad’s role in the incident-marred Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup final against Al-Ahli last week.

In front of a large crowd at King Fahd International stadium in Riyadh, Ittihad entered the match with key players Muhammad Nur, Reda Tukar, a defender, and Saleh Al-Sagri back in harness.

Their presence, however, failed to stop a determined Hilal from repeating their first round 2-1 victory over Ittihad and going top of the table with 38 points. The match ended with both teams having two players red carded. Ittihad had wanted to get back on the winning track after losing the final by 3-0 of the season’s first major competition and improve their chances for a spot in the final four.

Ittihad coach came to the match with the same formation that he played against Ahli, with one striker up front. Ittihad could not cope in the first half that was totally dominated by Hilal. Ittihad relied heavily on fast counter attacks, but striker Al-Hasan Keta could not do anything against very strong and well-organized Hilal defense line. Hilal goalkeeper Muhammad Al-Daie was not threatened in the first half. Hilal applied the defensive pressure on Ittihad not giving them the space and time to pass.

Hilal kept Keta at bay by not providing him with a space to maneuver and come forward. Once he has the ball, he found himself surrounded with at least 2 Hilal players. Hilal were attacking from the middle and right and left wings and Ittihad trying hard to penetrate from the middle but all the attempts were met by a very strong Hilal defense line.

The only goal in the first half came from Yaser Al-Qahtani from a spectacular shot inside the penalty box. Omar Al-Ghamdi gave a very nice pass inside the penalty box to Rodrigo who then issued a nice pass to Al-Qahtani who was positioned behind him shot true.

Ittihad were a totally different team in the second half, threatening Hilal with more dangerous passes and shots at goal. Nur received a nice through ball in the 58th minute inside the penalty box. The goalkeeper nicely blocked his shot. Keta nearly scored a goal in the 66th minute when he came face to face with the goalie. He took the ball inside the penalty box but his shot went way over the top bar.

The match was taken to another level and the series of red cards started in the 70th minute when Hilal defender Tafarees was red carded after receiving the second yellow card. The goal came one minute later from Naif All-Balawi who received a nice cross from Hamad Al-Muntasheri in the 71st minute. His header leveled the game to 1-1.

Hilal received another blow in the match when Abdul Aziz Al-Khathran was red carded in the 83rd minute when he tackled Nur outside the penalty box. Down with only nine players, Hilal must take the credit for keeping the cool and not panicking. Hilal regrouped and the Hilal coach introduced defenders to make up for the shortage and relied on Al-Qahtani alone up front.

The winning goal for Hilal came in the 87th minute from an opportunist free kick by Muhammad Al-Shalhoub. While Ittihad players were busy arguing with the referee, Al-Shalhoub saw the opportunity for a goal and he took it. This left Ittihad objecting to the goal but their protests fell on the referees’ deaf ears.