Falcons of the Future lost their recent Group D Al Abtal Cup fixture against AS Roma 2-1, in a game which saw the Saudi team put in a strong performance despite the disappointing result.
The Future Falcons started the game with attacking intent, pushing up at the back and striving to press their Italian counterparts high in their own half. Meshari Al Oufi came close to scoring the opener with a powerful shot, which was just about stopped at full stretch by Roma goalkeeper, Kiayov. The Saudi team came close to scoring again in the 11th minute, when Roma defender, Ragone, almost scored an own goal. The Italian attempted to clear a cross and fluffed his clearance towards his own goal, only for it to come back off the post fortuitously.
In the 17th minute, Roma were awarded a penalty, which Ragone stepped up to take, but Mohamed Alkhibari successfully saved it to preserve his clean sheet. The Future Falcons continued with their front foot approach to the game, with Hussein Alraqwani making runs down the left flank and firing off various long-range shots, one of which hit the crossbar. The Saudi team continued to press on looking for the goal and Alraqwani incursions down the left were a constant threat to the Italian defence. Meanwhile, Roma’s attempts on goal were also unsuccessful, meaning the teams went into the half time break all level at 0-0..
The second half started much like the first ended, but Roma surprised the Saudi team in the 58th minute with a goal against the run of play from a powerful Obliak strike from distance that beat Mohamed Al-Khaibari in the Falcons’ goal. The Future Falcons kept pushing on looking for the equaliser, but in the 90th minute, Roma’s Colasurdo struck an unstoppable thumping shot from outside the box, and in doing so he scored the second goal for the Italian side. In injury time, The Future Falcons were awarded a penalty, which Thamer Almousa successfully converted. Alas, time was against the Falcons and the match ended 2-1 in favour of AS Roma.
With this result, Falcons of the Future remain on one point in Group D, while Roma consolidated their position in second place and moved up to seven points, behind leaders Leganes.
