Mirbat relegated to first division league

Muscat, March 7 - Mirbat relegated officially to the first Division League for the next season of 2020/2021. Dhofar governorate’s team suffered a 1-0 defeat from Al Oruba at Salalah Sports Complex on Friday for the 22nd week of Omantel League. Thuwaini Hadid, who scored the winning goal, revived Sur’s opportunities despite their dangerous position currently at the 13th place with 20 points while Mirbat freezed to 12 points at the bottom of the table.  The competition is too high at the dropping zone since four rounds are left and the other two more teams will join Mirbat to the first Division League. Oman and Al Oruba are the closest teams to relegation but the upcoming weeks could change this equation especially since many teams are in the danger area including Suwaiq, Rustaq, Muscat, Bahla and Fanja. Muscat registered a strong comeback in their match against Al Rustaq at the latter’s home in Al Rustaq Sports Complex on Friday. Until the 77th minute, the hosts were ahead by 4-1 and everyone thought that they will snatch the winning points. However, Ibrahim Somar’s battalion raised their pressure at the attack side and had many scoring attempts. Abbas al Hashmi, Vensus and Abdul Qader Kai netted the goals and gained a crucial draw point which kept them quite safer from the danger zone at the ninth position with 28 points while the hosts were positioned at tenth place with 27 points. Bahla missed a golden opportunity as they held a 2-2 draw against Fanja. At Ibri Sports Complex, the hosts Bahla were leading the match by 2-0 thorugh a goal scored by the former national team player Khalid al Hajri and Ahmed al Sayied. The head coach of Fanja, Badar al Maimani did some changes in the team plan and the players brought the match into the original position as Mohammed al Najashi netted the first goal and Naseeb al Ghilani scored the equaliser. The draw kept the one-point margin between both teams as Fanja positioned at seventh place and possess 29 points while Bahla have 28 points at the eighth position. In the earlier matches of the 22nd week on Wednesday, league leaders Seeb, who is chasing up for the first historic title, beat the hosts Sohar 1-0. Salalah giants Dhofar trashed Oman club 4-0 while Al Nahdha edged Saham 2-1 and Al Suwaiq snatched a 2-0 win over Al Nasr.