Hilal reached the Crown Prince Cup final after beating city rival Al-Nasr 2-0 at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh Thursday. Hilal dumped Nasr out of the competition for the fourth straight season. The nine-time champion will meet the winner of Friday's match between Al-Ittifaq and Al-Wehdah in the final. Romanian midfielder Meriel Radoi put Hilal in the lead in the 18th minute before midfielder Ahmed Al-Furaidy doubled the lead nine minutes after the break. Hilal kept its opponent under pressure from the start. Egyptian striker Ahmed Ali could have put Hilal in the lead in the sixth minute had Nasr keeper Abdullah Al-Enezi not denied him. Hilal players kept attacking from all sides in search for a goal. Hilal midfielder Mohammed Al-Shalhoub was brought down some six yards from the area. The resulting free-kick by Radoi put the Blues one up. Hilal players came out after the break firing on all cylinders. Swedish winger Christian Wilhelmsson danced into the box where he made a perfect pass to the advancing Furaidy who sent a strong kick to the far right of Enezi to make it 2-0 for Hilal in the 55th minute. Four minutes later Radoi missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 when Al-Enezi excelled to block his spot kick. The perfect save breathed life into Nasr players who organized their lines and launched more serious attacks on Hilal. They were at times unlucky to reach Hasan Al-Otaibi's goal while the skilful keeper succeeded to disappoint them at other times.
