Saudi Arabian football enjoyed a good night Wednesday as both Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Champions League to join Zobahan of Iran and Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma of South Korea. Shabab will host Seongnam on Oct. 5, a day before Hilal travels to Iran to meet Zobahan. Two goals deep into extra time helped Al-Hilal avert a shock exit and advance 5-4 on aggregate despite losing to Qatar's Al-Gharafa 4-2 in the second leg in Doha. Al-Gharafa stormed to a 3-0 lead in the first half with goals from Mirghani Al-Zain, Younus Mahmood and Othman El-Assas to level the tie on aggregate and send the match into extra time. Mahmood scored 11 minutes into extra time to put his team on the brink of a stunning upset but Al-Hilal's Yasser Al-Qahtani and Eysa Al-Mahyani scored in the final two minutes to snatch away the victory. Al-Shabab also clinched a place in the semifinals even though it lost 1-0 to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea at King Fahd International Stadium. Kim Jee-wong's long-range strike midway through the first-half cut the 2-0 aggregate deficit, but despite several good chances in the second half, the visitors were unable to come up with another goal to send the match into extra time. Al-Shabab had the most opportunities in the second half, including a dangerous free kick from Marcelo Camacho which was pushed around the post by Kim Min-sik in the 50th minute. Nasir Al-Shamrani fired over from the edge of the box six minutes later. Lee Dong-gook then wasted Jeonbuk's best chance of the second half as the striker fired wide from eight yards. In South Korea, Seongnam went through 4-3 on aggregate after losing 2-0 to Suwon Bluewings in an all-South Korean quarterfinal. South Korea international Yeom Ki-hoon and Lee Sang-ho scored for two-time champion Suwon at Suwon World Cup Stadium. Yeom curled a 25-meter free kick over the wall and into the top corner in the 32nd minute. The deficit was reduced to one goal after Brazilian midfielder Marcelo's short pass to Lee inside the area allowed the striker to shoot into the bottom corner in the 59th. Zobahan needed an 80th-minute goal from Mohammad Reza Khalatbari to seal its place in the final four. Khalatbari punished Pohang for its wastefulness, taking a pass from Ghasem Hadadifar to fire past goalkeeper Shin Hwa-yong. Pohang had led in the 10th minute with a well-worked goal. Brazilian striker Mota freed Jung Hong-yoon on the left side and his low cross was swept into the net by international midfielder Kim Jae-sung. Saudi League Al-Ittihad won 2-1 over its host Al-Ra'id in the sixth round of the Zain Saudi Professional League at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, on Wednesday. The Al-Hilal vs. Al-Ahli encounter was put off due to their Asian Champions League fixtures. Striker Naif Hazzazi put Ittihad in the lead after eight minutes. Defender Ridha Takar helped Ittihad double the lead 14 minutes later. Abdul Majeed Abdullah pulled one back for Ra'id. Ittihad has 18 points which put the Tigers on top of the standings. Hilal, however, with 12 points has two matches in hand. With a single goal at King Abdul Aziz Sports City Stadium, Al-Ittifaq bagged three points from its host Al-Wehdah. The win put Ittifaq third on the standings with 12 points while Wehdah fall back to 11th spot with three points. In another match Al-Faisali beat Al-Hazm 3-1 at home. The win put Faisali eighth on the standings with five points, while Hazm remains in the bottoms with two points. __
