JEDDAH, 3 April 2007 — Al-Ahli gave the legion of over 20,000 fans, who had trooped into the stadium here yesterday, something to cheer about with key 1-0 victory over ES Setif of Algeria in first leg semifinals of Arab Champions League at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium.
Though the local outfit played with vigor and enjoyed sustained periods of territorial advantage, they could not translate their superiority into goals.
They had to wait until the second half for the lone strike of the game and that too off a penalty kick in the 49th minute when Haykal Gamamdeya was tackled inside the penalty box. The referee quickly pointed to the spot, triggering an Algerian players’ vociferous protest against the penalty decision. But their protest fell on deaf ears.
Ahli defender Khaled Badra rose to the occasion and placed in the ball to the right hand side of the goalie. With the lead in the bag, Ahli’s appetite was whetted and they went in search for more goals in the hope of building a comfortable cushion prior to the second leg match in Algeria.
The Algerian team too pushed forward in search for an equalizer to increase the tempo of the game, as the teams charted out raids and counter-raids in quick succession. Though fast-paced action was aplenty, the attacks foundered against the strong rival defense lines.
Ahli had more of the chances and looked likely to increasing the margin, especially in the last ten minute of the match. But all their efforts failed to change the scoreline. Ahli, with only a slender lead, expect a tough return battle as they will likely face a large contingent of Algerian fans to turn out for the match in Algeria to support ES Setif.
