Dhofar hold Omantel League lead as winter season draws to close

MUSCAT, NOV 3 - Dhofar hold the lead in the Omantel League title race as the winter season draws to a close with two rounds to play. The ten times league winners defeated Muscat 3-1 on Friday at the Seeb Sports Stadium in the 11th round of Omantel League. Motaz Saleh commenced scoring in the match for Dhofar in the eighth minute and Abdul Qader Faal equalised for Muscat in the 33th minute. In the second half, the Salalah giants registered a strong attack as Oudai Khader netted the second and third goal in the 60th and 75th minutes respectively. With the victory, Dhofar strengthened the lead in Omantel League with 29 points while Muscat have 20 points in the fourth place. The Al Suwaiq and Al Rustaq match finished in a goalless draw and both teams added one point to their credit. The former champion is placed at ninth place with 14 points while Al Rustaq is in the tenth position. Majees, who are currently at the 14th place with five points in danger zone, recorded their first win in the league over Sur by 1-0. Abdul Rahman al Balushi netted the winning goal in the 55th minute while his colleague Criset Deimi missed the chance to add the second goal as he did not score from a penalty in the second half. Meanwhile, Al Nahdha secured an important victory against Mirbat 1-0 as they increased their tally to 22 points at second place while Mirbat are in third position with 22 points. The national team player Mohammed al Shiba netted the winning goal for Al Nahdha. Saham failed to keep the four-point gap with Al Nasr as they were defeated by 2-1. Shika Surri and Omar al Malki netted for Al Nasr while Mohammed al Ghassani scored for Saham. Al Nasr jumped to seventh place with 16 points while Saham freezed with 17 points at sixth place. At Seeb Sports Stadium, Oman Club registered a crucial 2-1 win over the runner-up, Al Shabab. Yazed al Rawahi netted the first goal for Oman while Tariq al Mahrouqi added the second goal. In the second half, Omaro Jenyat reduced the gap as he scored the first goal for Al Shabab. With both teams languishing at the bottom rung of the points table, Oman Club now have nine points and positioned in the 11th place while Al Shabab have the same points in the 13th place. Al Oruba benefited in this round when they edged Sohar 2-1 to reach the eighth place with 15 points while Sohar remain on 17 points in the fifth place. Adil al Balushi