man Al-Hilal thrashed city-rival Al-Nasr 5-3 in the first leg match of the King's Cup semifinals at King Fahd International Stadium here Tuesday. Two goals each by Yasser Al-Qahtani and Meriel Radoi proved too much for Nasr to handle. Striker Al-Qahtani put Hilal in the lead eight minutes into the game. Romanian midfielder Radoi doubled the lead 10 minutes later from the spot. Qahtani added a third in the 26th minute. Defender Mohammed Nami added his name to the scorers' list with the fourth for the Blues. Argentinian midfielder Victor Alberto Figueroa pulled one back for Nasr through a free kick in the 61st minute. Striker Rayyan Bilal helped reduce the margin further 10 minutes later when he headed a corner kick into the Hilal goal. Figueroa gave Al-Nasr a glimmer of hope when he scored from the spot six minutes before time, but Radoi sealed the win for Hilal when he put a free kick into Nasr goal from 35 yards, two minutes before time. Although Hilal scored three goals in the first half, tactically it was a poor show by both the sides, which tried to play it safe. Both the teams, Nasr in particular, showed their true colors in the second half. Nasr, however, dearly missed the services of its five key players: striker Mohammed Sahlawi, midfielders Pascal and Ibrahim Ghalib, defender Ahmed Al-Doukhi and goalkeeper Khaled Radi. Hilal midfielder Ahmed Al-Furaidy had to leave the field midway through the second half when he was shown his second yellow card. The victory is expected to add confidence to Hilal players in their second-leg encounter at the same venue on May 2. On Wednesday, Al-Ittihad will host Al-Shabab in the first leg of their semifinal at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. The first two rounds of the competition are being played on two-leg basis, the third and fourth position match as well as the final will be one-off games.
