JEDDAH, 2 December 2007 — There was tension in the air, not because of the game between two archrivals Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad in the Saudi League but because of the controversy over Muhammad Kallon that had embroiled the two teams.
The Kallon affair led to the Ittihad club President Mansour Al-Balawi’s resignation after he was blamed for ‘spiriting’ Kallon away from Riyadh to Jeddah. Many said that the resignation of the club president marked the end of a golden era of Ittihad club, and the team was hoping to prove them wrong yesterday.
Ittihad were hoping to secure the first-leg match’s three points in order to strengthen their position at the top while Hilal were looking to collect the points in order to move up in their bid to dislodge Ittihad from the top.
The match was strong and tense as the two teams, with Kita in the striking line for Ittihad and Yaser Al-Qahtani marshaling Hilal’s forwardline, strung out some fine moves.
Al-Qahtani tested Ittihad’s defense and the goalkeeper Tayser Al-Nutaif early on when he collected a nice through pass and moved in to strike. But Al-Nutaif had the angle covered as he blocked the threat. Soon it was Ittihad’s turn with Al-Suwaeid’s header off a nice cross tipping over after hitting the bar.
The second half was no different with Ittihad enjoying slight territorial advantage over Hilal. Despite attacks and counters flowing in quick succession, the rival goals could not be breached. Al-Qahtani came closest to scoring when his strike thudded the bar and was cleared out of harm’s way.
Just before the final whistle Al-Qahtani wasted all his good efforts by muffing a penalty against Usama Al-Muwallad for a robust tackle on the Hilal winger. Al-Qahtani’s shot from the spot was blocked by Al-Nutaif.
In Dammam, Al-Nasr crushed Al-Ittifaq 4-1 in a one sided match. Ittifaq’s dismal performance was marked, especially after their fine outing against Hilal last week in the Gulf Cup Championship in Riyadh.
Ittifaq opened the scoring in the 15th minute through Saleh Basheer but the equalizer came four minutes later in the 19th minute through Elton. Al-Shahrani of Nasr scored the second in the 33rd minute followed by Elton’s second and the team’s third in the 46th minute. Esam Al-Merdasi sealed the win the 53rd minute.
Ittihad remain on top with 24 points and Hilal is sixth with 13 points. Nasr advanced to fifth place with 14 points while Ittifaq is fourth with 14 points, ahead on goal difference.