JEDDAH: New-look Al-Ahli banked on a late winner to score a 1-0 victory over Al-Salmiah of Kuwait in a Group B match yesterday in the 24th Gulf Clubs Championship at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Al-Nasr, the other Saudi side in the competition, did not enjoy a winning start, taking a 1-0 defeat by Kuwait’s Al-Qadisia in a Group A match in Doha.
Getting a perfect feed from new midfielder Hassan Al-Rahab, Saheb Al-Abdullah brought the ball inside the penalty box and struck a goal in the second minute of injury time for Ahli’s full three points.
For the first time in many years Ahli is without the veteran captain Hussein Abdul Ghani, who is playing as a professional player in Europe, but seven new promising are on the team. The tough Kuwaiti team gave Ahli a hard time throughout the match, threatening with several shots on goal. Bashar Abdullah just missed putting the ball into the back of the net following a brilliant save by the goalie. Jufeen Al-Bishi nearly scored when he managed to sneak behind the Kuwaiti defenders but missed the mark. Then came Al-Abdullah’s only goal of the match.
Earlier in the opening match of the group, Dhofar of Oman defeated Al-Najma of Bahrain 1-0. Saleem bin Ashour scored the only goal for the Kuwaiti team in the 17th minute.
