Hilal qualified for the final of the King's Cup after sharing two goals with its city rival Al-Nasr in the second leg of the semifinals at King Fahd International Stadium Sunday. Hilal with a 5-3 advantage in the first leg Hilal went through on a 6-4 aggregate. It will now meet the winner of the second semifinal between Al-Shabab and Al- Ittihad which will be played at the same venue Monday. Ittihad won the first-leg tie 2-0. Brazilian midfielder Thiago Nevez put Hilal in the lead in the first half and Nasr striker Sa'ad Al-Harthi leveled the score after the break. The winner dominated the first half and succeeded to score against poor defense. However, Nasr performed better in the second half which saw both the teams missing several scoring chances. In the 29th minute, Nevez of Hilal fired a free foul kick from outside the area, but Nasr goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Enezi managed to avert the danger by conceding a corner. But, Nevez headed in off the corner. About 11 minutes after the break, Harthi headed into the Blues' goal off a fine cross from Argentinean midfielder Victor Figueroa. After this goal, Hilal coach replaced Omar Al-Ghamdi with Abdul-Latif Al-Ghannam in an attempt to strengthen his defense. Nasr striker Mohammed Al-Sahlawi lost a real chance when he got past Hilal goalkeeper Hasan Al-Otaibi but Hilal defender Majed Al-Marshadi came from nowhere to save the situation. A minute later, Sahlawi came one-on-one with Al-Otaibi but he kicked the ball wide off the target. Nevez made a good attempt from outside the box in the 81st minute, but the ball hit the cross bar. Two minutes later, Nevez also made two more attempts. Swedish midfielder Christian Wilhelmsson faced Enezi but bit the post. Ten minutes before the final whistle, Nasr spectators started leaving the field. The match was attended by Italian Walter Zinga who is expected to coach Nasr in the new season.
