Holders Al Ittihad thrash Pusan in Champions League semi
KUALA LUMPER, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad burst into life in the second half to thrash South Korea's Pusan I-Park 5-0 on Wednesday and virtually assure themselves of a place in the final of Asian Champions League.
The Saudi side are now overwhelming favourites to progress to the final for the second successive year after the second leg in Jeddah on October 12.
There, they will meet either 2003 Asian champions Al Ain or Chinese champions Shenzhen Jianlibao, who play the first leg of their semi-final in the United Arab Emirates later on Wednesday.
Busan went into the match with an impressive record of eight wins out of eight in the competition, taking in six group matches and their 5-1 aggregate victory over Qatar's Al Sadd in the quarter-finals.
But the Saudis, who received a bye for the preliminary rounds as defending champions, proved too strong for Ian Porterfield's side.
After a goalless first half, Al Ittihad took the lead 10 minutes into the second half through Marzouk Al Otaibi 55.
Mohamed Kallon (62) and Brazilian Tcheco (65) increased their advantage with Saud Ali Khariri adding a fourth four minutes from time. Substitute Hamza Idris completed the scoring in the final minute.
KUALA LUMPER, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad burst into life in the second half to thrash South Korea's Pusan I-Park 5-0 on Wednesday and virtually assure themselves of a place in the final of Asian Champions League.
The Saudi side are now overwhelming favourites to progress to the final for the second successive year after the second leg in Jeddah on October 12.
There, they will meet either 2003 Asian champions Al Ain or Chinese champions Shenzhen Jianlibao, who play the first leg of their semi-final in the United Arab Emirates later on Wednesday.
Busan went into the match with an impressive record of eight wins out of eight in the competition, taking in six group matches and their 5-1 aggregate victory over Qatar's Al Sadd in the quarter-finals.
But the Saudis, who received a bye for the preliminary rounds as defending champions, proved too strong for Ian Porterfield's side.
After a goalless first half, Al Ittihad took the lead 10 minutes into the second half through Marzouk Al Otaibi 55.
Mohamed Kallon (62) and Brazilian Tcheco (65) increased their advantage with Saud Ali Khariri adding a fourth four minutes from time. Substitute Hamza Idris completed the scoring in the final minute.


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