Al Nahda stun Al Suwaiq

Anuroop Athiparambath -

MUSCAT, Oct 19 -

Al Nahda stopped the six-game winning spree of Omantel League leaders Al Suwaiq with a 2-0 win in the seventh round match at the Al Buraimi Complex late on Wednesday.Mohammed Khasib struck in the early stage of first half and Yousef Naser al Salman rounded it off in the later stage of second half to give a sensational win to Al Nahda.Courtesy of their six wins, Al Suwaiq still leads the table with 18 points after 7 matches. Al Nahda leaped to sixth position from tenth spot in the sixth round with 10 points.Al Shabab continued their steady progress to the top with another win and keeping the second spot with 15 points. They are now three points behind toppers Al Suwaiq. Al Yahmadi found the all-important goal for Al Shabab in the 47th minute at Sohar Sports Complex. Defending champions Dhofar escaped with a 1-1 draw against Sohar at the Al Saada Sports Complex. Dhofar needed a 88th minute penalty from Qasim Said to cancel out a fourth minute lead by Khalifa al Jahwari for Sohar.With the result, Dhofar are now on eighth position with 9 points, while Sohar are ninth with eight points.FANJA EARN WINFormer champions Fanja edged high-flying Saham 2-1 in effort to repair a faulty campaign this season.Mohammed Touki put Fanja in lead in the 21st minute and Daniel increased the advantage in the 66th minute to make it 2-0. Saham, who tried hard to come back into the match, returned one with a last-minute penalty by Mohammed al Ghassani.The defeat temporarily dealt a blow to Saham’s hopes to break into the top three as they fell one position to fifth with 10 points from 7 matches. Fanja, on the other hand, in their immediate task to avoid the relegation zone, are 12th with seven points from as many matches. In other matches, bottom-ranked Al Mudhaibi survived a five-goal thriller against dark horses Mirbat.At Al Saada Sports Complex, Mirbat struck early in the fifth minute to take lead. Al Mudhaibi found the equaliser soon in the 11th minute. After going 1-1 at the break, Mirbat was held back by an own goal in the 52nd minute and Mudhaibi capitalised on it with another goal in the 55th minute to make it 3-1. Nooh Wael reduced the margin for Mirbat in the 82nd minute but their valiant efforts for a third goal failed as Mudhaibi coasted to an important win. With the defeat, Mirbat stay at seventh with 10 points, while Al Mudhaibi improved one position to 13th with six points ahead of last-placed Oman Club (5 points), who lost to Al Oruba 1-0.Younis Mubarak struck the winner in the 88nd minute to seal full three points for fourth-placed for Al Oruba, who improved three spots from last round.At Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, hosts Muscat held Al Nasr to a 1-1 draw. Younis al Mushaifri’s 44th minute goal was cancelled out by Muscat in the dying minutes of the match to earn a point.