AMMAN: AFC Cup holders Al Faisaly advanced to the final for the third consecutive year following a 2-1 victory against Jordan league rivals Al Wihdat in the second leg of the semi-finals on Monday.

Al Faisaly opened the scoring through Moayad Abukeshek in the 31st minute and skipper Hassouneh Al Sheikh doubled their advantage on the hour mark.

Rafat Ali pulled a goal back for Al Wihdat through a penalty in the 70th minute but he was then sent off a minute later as Al Faisaly held on for a 3-2 aggregate victory.

The match was originally scheduled to be played on Tuesday but the AFC allowed it to be brought forward by a day to give Jordan national team players on both clubs more time to prepare for the second leg of their 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan on Sunday.

Both coaches made one change to their squads from the first leg, which ended in a 1-1 draw, as Al Faisaly coach Adnan Hamad brought in Haitham Al Shboul for Omar Abu Aqulah, while midfielder Awad Deeb replaced the injured Ahmed Al Zugheir in the Al Wihdat squad.

Al Faisaly needed to score to avoid going out on away goals but it was Al Wihdat who had the first chance when Mahmoud Shelbaieh's shot slammed against the right post in the 11th minute.

Al Faisaly thne broke the deadlock just after the half-hour as Abukeshek’s powerful right-footed shot from 25 metres found the lower right corner of Amer Shafi's goal.

Al Faisaly nearly doubled their lead in the 38th minute when a shot by Siraj Al Tall from outside the area was turned out for a corner by Shafi.

They squandered another chance in the third minute of stoppage time after skipper Hassouneh Sheikh Qasem broke clear but put his shot just wide of the right in the final attempt of the first half.

Al Wihdat started well in the second half and should have levelled the score five minutes after the restart when Faisal Ibrahim blazed over with Al Faisaly goalkeeper Lo'ai Al Amaireh on the ground after a clash with Amer Deeb.

However, Al Faisaly regained control and nearly made it 2-0 on 56 minutes when Haitham Semrin’s bad positioning gave Al Sheikh a chance to shoot from close range only for the effort to go wide of the left upright.

Al Shaikh would finally get on the scoresheet on the hour mark when he received the ball from Abukeshek on the edge of the area and took the ball into the box before dispatching it past Shafi.

Al Faisaly thought that they had made it 3-0 on 68 minutes when Qusai Abu Alieh’s low cross from the left flank was met by Al Tall who laid the ball on for Abukeshek to finish. However, the attempt was disallowed for a foul by Al Tall on Shafi.

Al Wihdat made things interesting by cutting the deficit two minutes later. They were awarded a penalty for a hand ball by substitute Mohamad Zuhair and substitute Rafat Ali made no mistake from the spot, placing the ball into the top right corner of Al Amaireh's goal.

However, Ali turned from hero to villain shortly afterwards when he was shown his second yellow card of the game for a gesture at Al Faisaly fans reducing his side to 10 men for the closing minutes.

Al Faisaly could have iced the win four minutes before the end but Al Tall's header went wide. Basem Fathi had a final attempt for Al Wihdat two minutes later but his shot went straight at Al Amaireh.