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Al Shabab gain OPL supremacy

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By Jaber al Ajmi — MUSCAT: Dec 5: Al Shabab hammered Dhofar 3-0 to grab the winter supremacy in the Omantel Professional League (OPL). The deserved win sent Al Shabab on top flight, one point clear over Dhofar and Al Oruba, who have 25 points each. Al Oruba came to winning ways by edging Al Khabourah 1-0, while Khalifa al Jahwari’s penalty regained fourth place for Sohar from Al Nasr.


In the other fixtures of the goal-shy week with only 14 goals, Jalan grabbed their first OPL win as they beat Al Rustaq, Al Nahda thrashed Saham 3-0, Fanja stole important three points from Oman club, while Muscat and Al Suwaiq ended in a goalless draw.


In an OPL thriller, Syrian left back Amro Jenyat opened the scoring in the first twenty minutes, Fernando scored second goal after half time and Omar al Malki completed the tally for Al Shabab as they leaped to the top of the standings with a 3-0 result. Al Shabab powered to the top spot for first time, while Dhofar lost their supremacy at top.


“It was a difficult start as we faced the leaders who are most successful team in OPL, but the spirit we had and the amazing support from our loyal fans who flocked the stadium, all gave us the desire to win and lead the table, and we finally did it,” Al Shabab manager Waleed al Sadi said.


The encounter of Al Shabab and Dhofar was attended by official AFC representatives to watch and evaluate Omani referee Khalid al Shaqsi who was officiating the game.


Third-placed Al Oruba are level on points with Dhofar after edging Al Khaboura 1-0, thanks to Sami al Hasenie’s goal in the 23rd minute. This was a welcome win for Al Oruba, who have gone three games without a win. Al Khaboura had some chances to equalise and Nooh Wael wasted a penalty in the 35th minute.


Ahmed al Alawi, Al Oruba manager said: “We have the identity of champions and this is what has been shown tonight against Al Khaboura who played a very good game and were able to reach our goal many times.”


Promising striker Khalifa al Jawhari successfully converted a penalty to lead Sohar as his team leapfrogged Al Nasr for the fourth place on 22 points, one point clear over Al Nasr now on fifth. The first half went goalless though both teams have good chances to score. The first five minutes of the second half brought the smiles to Sohar’s supporters when Al Jawhari scored from the spot. Al Jawhari is the OPL top-scorer with 10 goals.


Saham maintained their sixth spot on 18 points despite the 3-0 heavy defeat from Al Nahda who jumped to seventh spot on 16 points.


“We had studied the weaknesses and strengths of Saham. We played a very tactical game especially in the second half in which we scored twice,” Khalifa al Mezahmi, Al Nahda manager, said.


Ibrahima gave Al Nahda the lead in the 24th minute, while Frank bagged a brace in the late 15 minutes.


Saham manager Zoran said: “ We did not give event 10 per cent of our performance against Al Oruba last week as we were out of concentration in all 90 minutes and it was a deserved loss.”


Defending champions Fanja continued their improvement as they defeated Oman club 2-1 at the Seeb Stadium. Nine-time winners Fanja moved to eighth place on 16 points, while Oman club stayed on 14 points.


At Sur Stadium, Jalan finally enjoyed their first historical OPL win when they edged newcomers Al Rustaq 2-1, thanks to goals by Baba Jani ( penalty — 19th minute) and Yaseen al Shahimi (24th minute).


Al Suwaiq and Muscat both missed two points in their battle to avoid relegation with a goalless draw.


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