JEDDAH, 28 April 2008 — Al-Ittihad delivered a spectacular performance in a crushing 5-1 victory against Al-Ittifaq in the King’s Cup for Champions football tournament at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here last night.
With the victory Ittihad qualified for the semifinals against rivals Riyadh-based Hilal in an intriguing match that would give Ittihad a chance to redeem themselves from the heartbreaking Saudi Premier league finale defeat against the same team. Though a home-and-away series both matches will be played in Jeddah as part of the disciplinary measure against Hilal following their match against Al-Wehda in Makkah.
Ittihad’s Al-Hassan Keta drew first blood in the 23rd minute when he pounced on a defender’s mistake to convert a strong shot inside the penalty box. Osama Al-Muwallad added another goal in the 27th minute when his rocket shot settled in the back of the net leaving the Ittifaq goalie helpless and ending the first half 2-0 for Ittihad.
Ittifaq was a totally a different team in the second half as they managed to pull a goal back in the 51st minute through Saleh Basheer. Ittifaq ratcheted up the pressure on Ittihad in search of an equalizer.
Ittifaq lost many opportunities to level the game in large part because of the superb Ittihad defense and goal-tending. The Ittihad rout was on in the last five minutes of the match. Keta received a through ball, came face to face with the goalie and slammed home his second marker of the night.
That opened the floodgates for further goals by Manaf Abu Shgeer in the 88th minute and Abdul Aziz Al-Sebyani in injury time.
After the fifth goal, the Ittifaq goalie was seen berating the defenders for their poor performance and blaming them for the three enemy goals that came in quick succession
In the other match, Al-Ahli as expected ended the season in the same way they started it — with a loss.
In Riyadh, Al-Shabab found no difficulty crushing Ahli 3-1 in a one-sided match.
Shabab’s striker Naser Al-Shamrani scored in the 44th minute followed by Faisal Al-Sultan in the 47th minute. Midfielder Badr Al-Hagban scored the third goal for Shabab. Ahli’s only goal came in the 85th minute courtesy of Abdul Elah Al-Hawsawi.
Muhammad Nur said after the match that Ittihad are determined not miss the opportunity to win the only trophy left in the season and that they will eliminate Hilal from the competition. Hilal and Ittihad play the first leg match on Thursday, while Al-Hazem and Shabab open their semifinal series in Al-Rass on Friday.
