Ittihad put its one leg in the final of the King's Cup after blanking Al-Shabab 2-0 in the first leg of the semfinal at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium Wednesday. Midfielder Manaf Abu Shugair put Ittihad in the lead five minutes after the break and Algerian striker Abdul-Malik Ziaya sealed the Tigers' win. The match was the first for Shabab's new Brazilian coach Edgar Pereira after Jaime Pacheco of Portugal was sacked. However, it was Pacheco who succeeded in leading Shabab to Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Cup. Edgar used to coach the youth team of Shabab. The two teams put up interesting performance and threatened the rival's goal several times. Both goalkeepers were at their best despite the two goals that Shabab conceded. Ittihad goals came not only due to the brilliance of the winner but also Shabab defenders who failed to rise to the occasion. Ziaya helped his team to win when he passed the ball to Abu Shugair against Shabab goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah. Shugair immediately blasted the ball into the right corner of Abdullah. Ziaya succeeded later to connect skipper Mohammed Noor's long pass into the far left corner of Waleed. The two teams will meet in the second leg on May 3 at King Fahd International Stadium. Shabab will need to win with at least two-goal difference. A draw or a 0-1 defeat will take Ittihad to the final. On Tuesday, Hilal defeated city rival Al-Nasr 5-3 in the first leg of the first semifinal.
