Dhofar, Al Nahdha play out draw

MUSCAT, Oct 20 - League leaders Dhofar played out a 2-2 draw against Al Nahdha in the eighth round of the Omantel League at the Salalah Sports Complex on Friday. Essam al Barhi scored the second goal for Dhofar that enforced the draw just four minutes before the end of regulation time. Mohammed al Mashari scored the first goal for the Salalah giants in the 38th minute. In the second half, Al Nahdha registered a strong comeback from behind as they scored the drawn goal through Tiago in the 66th minute. Al Nahdha added another goal in 84th minute by Mohammed al Marboui. Ali al Barhi saved the blushes for Dhofar when he scored the equaliser and levelled scores. With this draw, Dhofar increased the margin to 20 points in the Omantel League table while Al Nahdha reached 15 points at fourth position. Sohar scored a crucial 5-4 win over Al Shabab on Friday to add three points to their credit and reached 14 points at the fifth position while Al Shabab remained at six points in the 12th place. Ernest started the proceedings for Al Shabab as he scored the opening goal in the first 44 seconds of the match. Said al Abdul Salam netted the draw for Sohar in the 13th minute. Amro Jinyat brought Al Shabab back to the front as he netted second goal in the 22nd minute. After ten minutes, same player added third goal for Al Shabab. The Oman national team player, Mohsin Jawher, came up with a strong performance in a come-from-behind effort as he netted two goals for a 3-3 draw by end of the first half. The referee of the match showed red card for Al Shabab goalkeeper as the team played later with ten players only. In the second half of the match, the thriller continued as Salman al Maqbali added fourth goal for Sohar in the 70th minute while Essam al Subhi scored the draw for Al Shabab in the 77th minute. Before the consolation time by eight minute, Salman al Maqbali succeed to score the winning goal for Sohar. In another match, Oman Club stunned Al Rustaq 2-1 at the Seeb Sports Stadium. Tariq al Mahrouqi netted the both goals for Oman Club while Korean player Song Hanki scored an own goal for Al Rustaq. With this victory, Oman climbed up to 11th position with six points and one point gap with Al Rustaq, who are placed in tenth place with seven points. Meanwhile, Muscat and Al Nasr played out a 1-1 draw. Al Suwaiq and Saham played out a 1-1 draw at the Sohar Sports Complex. Saham reached the third position with 16 points while Al Suwaiq’s tally is nine points occupying the ninth place. Al Oruba were held to a goalless draw by Majees while Mirbat beat Sur 2-1 at Salalah Sports Complex. Al Oruba are at the eighth position with 12 points and Mirbat are second with 16 points. Majees and Sur are in the danger zone in the 14th and 13th place respectively. Adil Al Balushi