JEDDAH: Al-Ahli of Jeddah secured an important win against Al-Ittifaq on Friday in round 3 of the Zain Saudi Professional League at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium here in Jeddah. The 2-0 result of the match lifted Ahli to fourth with six points from two matches while Ittifaq remain seventh with two points from three matches, following two earlier drawn ties against Al-Wehda and Al-Nasr
Ahli still has a match pending against Al-Hazem. The match was postponed after some Hazem players were down with swine flu.
Aggressive Ahli dominated the match assuming total control of the midfield, with Ittifaq showing flashes of brilliance in the first half. It was just a matter of time before Ahli translated its territorial superiority into goals.
Ahli’s opening goal came in the 31st minute from Javier Tulido, who received a fine pass inside the penalty box from Tayseer Al-Jasim. Javier met the ball head on to direct it into the goal. Moments after the goal, Malek Muaz came close to scoring an equalizer but his fine attempt was staved off by the goalkeeper.
The second half was no different as Ahli sustained its tempo and domination, but had to wait till the 88th minute to make the match safe. Once again Javier scored. His long pile-driver rocketed past the Ittifaq goalkeeper whose attempt to parry the ball was in vain.
Ahli striker Ahmad Darweesh nearly secured the third goal in the last minute of the match when he dipped the ball over the keeper only to see his effort sail just over the crossbar.
Al-Fateh and Hazem drew 1-1 on Friday. Hazem earned its first point in the league and is in the eighth position. Al-Fateh is ninth with one point from two losses and one draw.
Earlier on Thursday, Al-Shabab defeated Nasr 2-0 at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Naser Al-Shamrani scored both the goals, in the 50th and 79th minutes, of the match. Nasr dropped to 10th position with one point while Shabab is third with seven points from two wins and one draw. Al-Hilal defeated Wehda 2-1 in Makkah and is trailing leader Al-Ittihad with nine points from three wins. Wehda is in sixth position with two points. Najran and Al-Qadisiya drew 0-0 on Thursday. Qadisiya is 11th with a point and Najran, too with one point, is last in the standings.
