JEDDAH, 28 August 2005 — Newly-promoted Abha denied Al-Ittihad full three points when they held the premier Jeddah club to a 2-2 draw in a Group C match here even as Al-Ittifaq moved to top of the group with a 1-0 victory over Al-Wehda in Dammam in the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup soccer tournament. The two other matches between Group A teams Friday saw Al-Nasr draw 1-1 at home to Al-Qadisiya in Riyadh and Al-Hilal share points with Al-Ansar of Madinah in another 1-1 draw.
Saleh Basher scored the only goal of the match in the 43rd minute and sealed the win that gave Ittifaq 7 points and the Group C lead.
Khaled Al-Shamrani put Ittihad on the scoresheet with a goal in the 24th minute. Muhammad Yaseen booted in the Abha equalizer in the 48th minute before teammate Abdullah Al-Kahtani gave their team a 2-1 lead with a 55th minute goal.
Ittihad found the equalizer in the 68th minute courtesy of Meshal Al-Saaed. Abha are also on 7 points but trails Ittifaq on goal difference, while Ittihad are last with four points and face early exit from the competition.
The Nasr goal was scored by Adriano the 38th minute and Qadisiya’s was recorded by by Bandar Basareeh in the 45th minute.
Hilal drew first blood in the 48th minute thanks to Muhammad Al-Anbar. Al-Ansar equalized in the 38th minute through Abdul Aziz Al-Hulaiyel.
