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Al Wahda hold Al Ittihad of Jeddah to a goalless draw

 

UAE Al Wahda Football Team came from Jeddah with one point after holding hosts team Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia to a goalless draw in their 2011 AFC Champions League round 4 match played yesterday at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.

The hosts were the first to secure a berth in the 16 stage of the continental competition after collecting ten points that see them on top of Group C, five ahead of their closest rivals, while the visitors have moved one step forward to take third position on three points. Al Ittihad will struggle in the two forthcoming matches to preserve their leadership of the group to finish the preliminary stage on top of the ladder at least no lower than second spot if it happens that they lose their two left games against FC Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan and Piroozi of Iran.

On the other hand Bunyodkor raised their tally to five points following their deserved 3-1 victory over Piroozi who remains at the bottom of the table with only two points.

The Saudi team were the better side after dominating the major parts of the game putting more pressure on the visiting squad's defenders who played with open eyes and succeeded in spoiling all the hosts' attempts but their attacks were in lack of concentration. Their player Saleh Al Saqri was the first to hit the back of the net only 4 minutes into the game when he collected the ball inside the box and launched a fierce volley for Al Wahda's custodian Mutaz Abdullah to save brilliantly. The hosts continued their raids trying to score an early goal and their efforts were near to make their dreams come true, but Abdelmalik Ziaya's perfect header off midfielder Mohammed Noor's cross ball went over the bar in the 13th minute. Ismail Matar also tried his luck with a long shot but Al Ittihad's keeper Mabrouk Zayed found no difficulty in controlling the ball in the 26th minute.

The two teams continued their attacks after the break with Al Ittihad creating more chances but could not score. Both of them squandered all the sitters that came their way in the entire second session to finish the game with a goalless draw.