JEDDAH, 23 September 2004 — Al-Ansar of Madinah sprang a surprise in the King Fahd Cup Soccer League when they stunned Al-Hilal 1-0 at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium in Riyadh last night.
Hilal, playing in front of their home crowd, failed to prise open the Ansar defense in the first period, in which they called the shots, and lost their way in the second after Ansar had rocked them with a 28th minute second half penalty.
Hilal, reduced to ten men in the 26th minute of the second session, failed to find their rhythm against a staunch Ansar defense, which had soaked up the early Hilal pressure with ease.
In the first few minutes of the match Hilal swept toward the Ansar goal repeatedly, but except for a lone set piece strike in the 22nd minute by Brazilian Taferese, that thudded the left post, Hilal never really came close.
Ansar’s Kosta, who had some good counters in the first half, again was in the thick of action in the second half. His third minute free kick rebounded from the right post.
In the 14th minute Hilal’s Saeed Al Dossary sent in a fine cross only to see Camacho’s header beautifully saved by Ansar goalkeeper. And in the 21st minute it was Ansar’s Ali Al Jabile’s turn to see his shot being saved by goalkeeper Ali Jalali.
Jalali was soon sent off for a robust foul on Kosta, who stepped up to take the resultant penalty and shot it clinically past the substitute goalkeeper Abdul Allah Al Mayoube.
Riyadh’s Al-Shabab and Al-Wehda played out a 1-1 draw in Makkah, and Al-Qadisiya of Dammam defeated Al-Ta’ie 3-1 in the other matches of the day.
Pakhtakor Reach Semis With
Victory Over Al-Wahda
Uzbekistan champions Pakhtakor advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Champions League yesterday with a 5-1 aggregate victory over United Arab Emirates side Al Wahda.
Uzbek striker Vladimir Shishelov scored twice as Pakhtakor won their second-leg match 4-0 in Tashkent following last week’s 1-1 draw in Abu Dhabi.
