By Mohammed Al-Kinani
DAMMAM – Al-Hilal and Najran qualified to the semifinals of the Crown Prince Cup after defeating Nasr and Al-Ansar, respectively Wednesday.
Al-Hilal won over its city rival Al-Nasr 2-1 at King Fahd International Stadium.
Although Nasr scored first through Guinean midfielder Pascal Feindouno ten minutes after the break, Hilal succeeded to level the score through
Brazilian midfielder Thiago Neves in the 61st minute. The Blues doubled the score through the Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson in the 22nd minute of the extra time.
The city rivals fought an interesting match that pleased their fans who filled almost all seats.
Hilal set up a perfect offside trap for its opponent. However, a cross by Victor Figueroa went inside the box to Pascal who headed into the right corner of Hilal keeper Hasan Al-Otaibi.
Neves made several attempts from outside the area, but Khalid Radhi, keeper of Nasr, saved the midfielder’s attempts. However, Radhi failed to block a strong kick by Neves from outside the box. The kick landed at the far right corner of Radhi.
The two teams unleashed several attacks and witnessed dangerous plays by players of both the teams.
Nasr skipper left the field with an injury in his right knee. The match was taken to extra time.
Eight minutes before the final whistle Wilhelmsson received a cross inside the box from Eissa Al-Muhayani. Nasr defenders thought Wilhelmsson was in an offside position. The Swedish midfielder nudged the ball into the goal to secure his team’s win.
In another match, Najran defeated its host Al-Ansar 3-1 at Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz Stadium.
Najran defender gave the opponents a goal when scored an own goal in the 19th minute. However, his midfielder teammate Majed Abu Yabes leveled the score five minutes before the break.
With the full time ended with the same result, the match was taken to extra-time. The Congolese striker of Najran, Depa, put his team in the
lead in the 109th minute before his teammate Mohsen Al-Najrani sealed the win.
Najran will meet Al-Hilal in the semifinals Monday at King Fahd International Stadium.
A day before, Al-Ahli and Shabab will meet at the same stadium to decide the first finalist.
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