JEDDAH, 14 March 2007 — Al-Nasr kept their flickering hopes alive with an away 2-0 win over Al-Kuwait of Kuwait last night in the Arab Champions League quarterfinal match.
The victory gave Nasr 9 points but the Riyadh-based team’s fate is now in the hands of Al-Faisali. A defeat by Faisali in their away Group B match against Setif of Algeria on Thursday would enchance their chances of advancing into the semifinal, while a Faisali win or draw would eliminate Nasr.
Both goals came in the second half, the first scored by Saad Al-Harthi from a penalty kick and the other by Mansour Al-Thaqafi in the 84th minute.
The non-bearing Group A match between another Saudi side Al-Ahli and Zamalek of Egypt ended in a 1-1 draw at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here. The teams had qualified for the semifinals.
The visitors scored first in the 15th minute through midfielder Alla Abdulghani who eluded the home team defenders to slam home the goal .
In the 33rd minute Abdulghani put his foot down but this time his shot deflected off the thigh of Ahli’s Brazilian national Caio. In the 42nd minute Naif Hazazi shot a powerful right footer that was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Both teams played a fair first half in a game that witness first class Arabian football. In the 56th minute Malek threw away a chance to score the equalizer after he came face to face with the keeper just inside the box when he took too long to punch a hard ball toward the net.
The keeper blocked a powerful left footer in a fourth attempt to equalize by Malek who kept the visitors’ defense restless.
A pass from Malek in the box placed Brazilian mid fielder Antonio Ciao face to face with the keeper and his powerful shot found the far right up left hand side of the net for the equalizer in 69th minute.
It just wasn’t Malek’s day as he failed to score again from a ball that reached his feet in front of an empty goal as he managed to shoot over the post in the 76th minute.
