RIYADH, 19 February — Fouzi Al-Shahri turned in a brilliant display, striking in two super goals within minutes, to help Al-Ahli qualify for the finals of the Crown Prince Cup with a 2-1 win over Al-Nasr here yesterday.
In a thrilling encounter at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium, Al-Nasr tried to overcome the two-goal deficit with some spirited effort but found the Al-Ahli defense tough to break.
And even the consolation they secured came in the 90th minute of the game, but by then the match had slipped out of their grasp.
Al-Ahli made their mark from the start by controlling the early running and, when Al-Shahri struck in the first in the seventh minute Al-Ahli were well in command. Within minutes the Jeddah outfit had doubled their lead, once again Al-Shahri hitting true, to throw Al-Nasr’s gameplan awry.
Though the partisan crowd vociferously boosted Al-Nasr, the Al-Ahli defense withstood the home side pressure, especially in the second half. Though Al-Nasr created chances galore they could manage to score only a last-gasp goal to reduce the margin. Mohsin Al-Harithy found the mark after a period of sustained domination.
Al-Ahli now await the winner of the other semifinals between Al-Ittihad of Jeddah and Al-Ansar of Madinah. The teams are scheduled to play today at Prince Muhammad Stadium in Madinah.
