JEDDAH: Al-Nasr secured a vital 3-1 victory against Al-Fateh on Friday in the Saudi Professional League at Prince Faisal bin Fahd stadium in Riyadh. After a scoreless first half, Nasr drew first blood in the 47th minute with a strike from Muhammad Al-Sahlawi.
Lee Chun-soo scored the second goal in the 59th minute. The same player scored Nasr’s third and his second personal goal in the 72nd minute.
Al-Fateh scored its only goal from a penalty kick in the 75th minute.
In Makkah, Wehda crushed Al-Raid 4-0.
On Saturday, action shifts to high gear when Jeddah rivals Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad clash in one of two round 10 matches at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium.
The second match is an Eastern Province derby between Al-Qadisia and Al-Ittifaq.
For Ahli and Ittihad, the match is not easy more so because both teams are under heavy pressure from fans to score victory.
After losing the AFC Champions League final and two consecutive league matches against Al-Shabab and Ittifaq Ittihad will be looking to get back on track in Saturday’s match. The prospects don’t look good because Ittihad, in third place with 15 points from seven matches, will be without team leader Muhammad Nur, Saud Kariri and Reda Tukar.
Ahli, on the other hand, is in no better situation either as the team drew the last two matches against Wehda 1-1 in Makkah and against Nasr 3-3 in Jeddah. Ahli is fifth in the standings with 11 points.
Ahli is likewise facing manpower problems with Hasan Al-Raheb, Tayseer Al-Jasim, Ahmad Kano and Ahmad Darweesh out.
This is the first match Ahli will play under a new coach after the former Argentinian coach, Gustavo Alfaro, ended his contract with Ahli because of family emergency.
Heavy rain to fall on Jeddah is the weather forecast Saturday. In this case, the game will be postponed if heavy rain and flood warning were in effect.
