JEDDAH, 22 December — Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia scored a well-earned 3-2 victory over Al-Isteqlal of Iran in their first leg clash of the Asian Soccer Club Champions Championship here last night. The teams were level 2-2 at the end of first half.
The visitors forged into the lead in the 17th minute through Alireza. However, Ittihad mounted pressure for an equalizer and finally succeeded when Saleh Thagri found the mark in the 34th minute.
Encouraged and egged on by their partisan local supporters, Al-Ittihad took over the control of play and took the lead two minutes later through Muhammad Noor.
Isteqlal then dominated play to again level scores through Muhammad Mahmood Fakhry in the 42nd minute.
But Ittihad were not to be denied and the only goal of the second half was fired by Hamad Al-Muntasheri. The second leg will be played in Tehran.
