Shabab routed Al-Hilal 3-0 in the first-leg semifinal match for the King's Cup at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on Friday. Abdo Atif, Marcelo Camacho and Abdul Aziz Al-Saran scored for Al-Shabab, which will face Al-Hilal in the return match at the same avenue on May 10. The victory gave Al-Shabab a huge boost ahead of the team's match in the AFC Champions League fourth round which resumes on Tuesday. In the other first-leg semifinal match, Al-Ittihad beat Al-Hazm 2-0 at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah thanks to goals by Hicham Aboucherouane and Naif Hazazi. In the Riyadh match, Al-Hilal looked good in the start but Al-Shabab's attempts at the rival's goal forced Al-Hilal midfielders to focus on defense rather than creating chances for their lone striker Yasser Al-Qahtani. The first real threat in the game came midway through the first half when Al-Hilal player Fahd Al-Mofarej's header off a corner kick hit Al-Shabab bar. Atif, however, put Al-Shabab in the front when he blasted a 20-yard shot to the far left of Mohammed Al-Daeyea. Camacho doubled Al-Shabab's lead a minute after the break. Al-Hilal coach Gorge Leekins made three changes but his tactics did not bear fruit as Abdul Aziz Al-Saran increased the margin in the 68th minute. Another shock hit Al-Hilal five minutes before the game when Yasser Al-Qahtani was booked and will therefore miss the second-leg match next week. Al-Qahtani will also not be available for Hilal's AFC Champions League matches after he was suspended for two matches. __
