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Al-Kholood Knock Al-Ittihad Out of King’s Cup to Set Up Final Clash with Al-Hilal

Al-Kholood secured a place in the Saudi King’s Cup final after eliminating holders Al-Ittihad on penalties (5-4), following a thrilling encounter that ended 1-1 in regular time and 2-2 after extra time. They will now face Al-Hilal, who progressed at the expense of Al-Ahli.

The match was highly entertaining from the outset, with Al-Ittihad opening the scoring through substitute Moussa Diaby in the 40th minute. The French winger capitalized on a precise pass from Steven Bergwijn before firing a powerful shot into the net. Despite Al-Kholood’s attempts to respond, Al-Ittihad held their lead until the 73rd minute, when Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa equalized after being set up by French midfielder Kévin N’Doram.

At the start of extra time, Al-Ittihad regained the lead through Bergwijn, who finished off a pass from Diaby with a strong strike in the 96th minute. However, Al-Kholood refused to back down and found a second equalizer through England’s Adam Berry in the 111th minute with a powerful effort, sending the match to penalties.

In the shootout, Algeria’s Houssem Aouar missed Al-Ittihad’s second penalty, followed by another miss from Diaby on the sixth attempt. Although Al-Kholood also missed once through Slovakia’s Norbert Gyömbér, it was enough for them to secure a 5-4 victory and book their place in the final.

In the other semi-final, Al-Hilal advanced after defeating hosts Al-Ahli 4-2 on penalties, following a 1-1 draw in regular and extra time.

Al-Hilal took the lead through France’s Theo Hernandez in the 39th minute, while Al-Ahli equalized via England’s Ivan Toney from the penalty spot in the 81st minute.

During extra time, Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy produced a brilliant save to deny Karim Benzema, while Toney missed a clear scoring opportunity. The crossbar also denied Al-Hilal after a header from Mohammed Kanno in the 109th minute.

In the penalty shootout, Al-Ahli failed to convert two of their attempts, with misses from Toney and Brazil’s Galeno, while Al-Hilal scored all four of their penalties to secure a 4-2 win and set up a final showdown with Al-Kholood.

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