JEDDAH: Al-Shabab and Al-Ittihad went through the motions of playing the semifinal second leg matches with contrasting results yesterday and set the stage for their final showdown in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup of Champions football tournament.
This is the second time the two teams will face each other in the final match of the King’s Cup. Last year Shabab secured the title after winning 3-1.
Shabab dropped a 2-1 decision against Al-Hilal at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyah but advanced nonetheless on aggregate score of 4-2 having won the first leg match by 3-0.
Shabab racheted up the pressure on Hilal when Naser Al-Shamrani score the first goal of the match in the second half.
Down 4-0 on aggregate, Hilal played aggressive football that resulted in successive goals by Ki Hyeon and Chrisitan Wilhemsson in the 71st and 72nd minutes.
Shabab drew back and played defense for the remainder of the match to protect its two goals advantage.
Hilal’s attacks were taken care of by a well-organized Shabab defense line. Ittihad kept its unbeaten record in the semifinal series with Al-Hazem, winning the second leg match 1-0 in Al Rass and advancing on aggregate score of 3-0.
Ittihad had won the first leg match by 2-0 in Jeddah but the team did not take chances specially since this was an away game and it was without star player Muhammad Nur, who was sidelined due to injury.
The only goal of the match came in the 85th minute from a Naif Al-Hazzazi header that crossed to the right of the goalkeeper.
