AMMAN: Odai Al Saify scored an early goal as Jordan Cup champions Shabab Al Ordun grabbed a narrow advantage in their AFC Cup semi-final against Al Nejmeh with a 1-0 win over the Lebanese side in the first leg at Amman International Stadium on Tuesday.

Al Saify, who was also on target in the 2-0 victory against Al Nejmeh during the group stage, scored the only goal of the game after five minutes to give Shabab Al Ordun a slight edge for the return game in Beirut on October 23.

While Shabab Al Ordun coach Nizar Mahrous had a complete squad to choose from for the match, his Al Nejmeh counterpart Nenad Stavric had to make do without top scorer Mohammed Ghaddar.

The 23-year-old, who has scored four goals in the competition, has been suspended for both semi-final games after being sent off in the second leg of the quarter-finals against Mahindra United and Al Nejmeh struggled without him in their side.

Unbeaten at home this season, Shabab Al Ordun began the match strongly, putting their opponents under pressure and taking the lead through Al Saify after just five minutes.

The 21-year-old striker took advantage of confusion in the Al Nejmeh defence after they failed to adequately clear a corner from the right and with his back to goal, turned to crash a volley past Al Nejmeh goalkeeper Abdo Tafeh.

Spurred on by the early goal, Shabab Al Ordun took control of proceedings and nearly doubled their lead on 25 minutes when Bassam Al Khatib sent Al Saify clear on goal, only for the youngster to lob the ball over the head of Tafeh and the Al Nejmeh crossbar.

Al Saify had another excellent opening in the 32nd minute, getting on the end of Ammar Al Sharaydeh’s cross from the left flank but his header failed to trouble Tafeh.

The home side would be denied again five minutes before the break as Al Saify got his head to Bassam Al Khatib’s cross from the right, only to see it come back off the woodwork.

The Jordanians continued to exert pressure after the break and nearly made it 2-0 four minutes into the second half when Bassam Al Khatib broke clear but saw his shot turned out by Tafeh for a corner.

Stavric made a number of changes to try to energise his side in the second half but Al Nejmeh failed to take advantage of their opportunities, leaving them with plenty of work to do for the second leg later this month.