JEDDAH, 22 November 2006 — Al-Nasr recovered from one goal down in the first half to snatch a 2-1 victory against MC Alger in the first leg of their Arab Champions League quarterfinal match in Riyadh last night. After trailing 1-0 in the first half from a 20th minute goal by Muhammad Baadash, Nasr came back with a renewed vigor and purpose in the last half of the contest to score the win. Nasr seemed to play their best in the last 15 minutes of the match. Talal Al-Meshal pulled Nasr level with Alger by converting a nice header in minutes 79.
Saad Al-Harthi scored an opportunistic goal minutes later when he slid the ball in after the Algerian goalie stepped out of his post to open a space for Al-Harthi. Nasr will try to qualify for the semifinal when they face the Algerian team next Monday in Algeria.
Meantime, Al-Ittihad will need a miracle to advance to the semifinal of Arab Champions League competition against ES Setif of Algeria after losing the first leg 4-1 in a one sided match. Ittihad dug themselves a hole after this unexpected defeat in front of a large Algerian crowd that exceeded 22, 000 on a cold Monday night. The Algerian team drew first blood in minutes 45 from a nice header by Adco to end the first half ahead. The hosts came on strong in the second half craving for more goals with their confidence having been boosted by that late first half goal. Adel Maiesi scored the second goal in minutes 51, followed by another goal seven minutes later by Saad Burhaili. Ittihad’s defense lines were loose and most players were confused and not up to match the power and speed of Algerian players.
In an effort to fix what can be fixed, the coach introduced Muhammad Nur and Muhammad Amin to bring life to the Ittihad front line. This effort paid off when Amin rifled a nice pass between defenders to Mexican international Jared Borgetti who scored the first goal in minutes 76. Ittihad continued to launch attacks only to get struck with the fourth goal in minutes 90 by Abdul Malik from a nice cross inside the penalty box. Ittihad will face ES Setif in Jeddah for the second leg match on Nov. 28.
In another competition and this time a success by a Saudi team, Al-Ittifaq defeated Al-Salmiyah of Kuwait 3-0 in the Gulf Championship second leg semifinal match in Dammam on Monday. Saleh Basheer scored on two occasions — the first and third goal in the 7th and 52nd minutes of the match, while Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani scored the second goal in the 47th minute. Ittifaq will play the final match on Dec. 25 against Al-Qadisiya of Kuwait. The first leg match will take place in Dammam and the finale and second leg match in Kuwait on Feb. 12.
