JEDDAH, 3 March 2008 — It took Al-Ittifaq exactly two minutes to put an end to defending champions Al-Ahli’s hopes of qualifying for the Crown Prince Cup final for the second time in a row.
Down by a goal with the match entering the dying minutes, Ittifaq struck with two lightning-quick goals within a minute of each other to win the second leg of the semifinal match with Ahli 2-1 last night at the Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd Stadium in Dammam and advance into the final on 4-3 aggregate against early qualifier Al-Hilal. The teams drew the first leg match in Jeddah by 2-2.
Hussein Abdulghani gave Ahli the lead with goal in the 38th minute from a fine shot from outside the penalty box that went on the left hand side of the goalie.
Ahli had looked well on the way to scoring the victory until Ittifaq equalized and turned the match around in the 80th and 81st minutes with goals from Saleh Basheer and Prince Tago.
Ittifaq were unfazed after Ahli drew first blood in the match watched by a large number of fans from both teams. Instead, they came back strong in the second half and managed to pin Ahli in their half side of the field.
Ahli made the biggest mistake by relaxing on defense and giving total control and domination to Ittifaq, who took advantage and hammered the enemy with attacks and counter attacks.
The cracks in Ahli defense widened resulting in two enemy goals in a two-minute span. Ahli tried hard to get back to the game in vain, as all their efforts were met by a strong and well-organized Ittifaq defense.
