JEDDAH, 17 March 2005 — Saudi club Al-Ahli brought down Syria’s Al-Jaish 3-1 yesterday and moved on top of Group D with six points from two consecutive victories in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Champions League eliminations here.
Another Saudi team, Al-Shabab, won 2-1 away to Al-Wehda in Syria in Group B. Iraq’s Al-Zawraa also scored a 2-1 away victory over Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in the other Group D match. The win gave Shabab four points in the group in a tie with Al-Ain of United Arab Emirates.
Brazilians Rugeiro and Flavio each scored a goal for Ahli who seemed to have reversed their poor run of results with convincing wins of late.
Majed Aboyabish was the other goal scorer for Ahli. Rugeiro lashed home a goal in the fifth minute from inside the box that sailed past the left-hand side of the Al-Jaish goalkeeper.
Aboyabish gave Ahli a 2-0 lead in the 39th minute with a lucky shot the ball hitting the left and the right goal post before going in.
A 69th minute goal prevented a shutout for Syria, but Flavio completed Ahli’s decisive victory when he found the net in the 76th minute.
Meantime, Jeddah’s Al-Ittihad suffered a 3-2 defeat Tuesday by Al-Qadisiya of Alkhobar in the King Fahd Cup soccer tournament.
The win moved Qadisiya up to sixth place with 23 points, while Ittihad remained on third despite the loss.
In Sunday’s matches Al-Riyadh will host Ittihad in Riyadh, Ittifaq entertain Qadisiya in Dammam while Ohod and Al-Ansar clash in an all-Madinah encounter.
