JEDDAH, 20 February 2003 — Al-Ittihad of Jeddah sustained their winning spree in the King Fahd Cup Soccer Tournament with a 5-1 drubbing of Al-Riyadh at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here yesterday.
The victory lifted Ittihad to 35 points and increased the gap by five points between themselves and second-placed Hilal, who were held goalless by Al-Shabab at Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium in Riyadh in the other match of the day.
With the possibility of the race running neck-n-neck between Ittihad and Hilal, the latter’s failure to gain full points and Ittihad’s rip-roaring success yesterday eased the pressure on the front-runners Ittihad. To add to Ittihad’s joy, Hilal has played two more matches.
Ironically it was Riyadh who called the tune in the early part of the game, which saw swift exchanges of attacks and counter-attacks. Ittihad slowly gained the midfield ascendancy, and in the 41st minute Hamza Idrees, latching on to a brilliant pass from Muhammad Nur, ran in and shot past the goalkeeper. The rising ball went to the keeper’s left and hit the roof of the net.
Riyadh snatched the equalizer in the very first minute after the break when Hussain Hadi headed home a cross from the right to stun Ittihad. But this goal in effect worked as a spur for Ittihad, who went ahead again in the 50th minute with Marileu converting cleanly from a set piece.
Nur struck in the 71st minute for his side’s third. He sent in the rebound after Hassan Al-Yami’s header had hit the post. In the 81st minute Tarek Al-Muwalled headed in a Marileu cross from the right and six minutes later Al-Yami shot from the spot to round off the tally.
