MUSCAT: A confident Oman under new coach Jaraslov Silhavy impressed in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday to beat Malaysia 2-0 in the Preliminary Joint Qualification - Round 2 for the Fifa World Cup 2026 and the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027.
The Group D away match for the Red Warriors was a repeat result of their home tie last week in Muscat.
Oman, who controlled the match with precise moves, stunned the hosts in the additional times of the first and second halves to take the full points.
Omar al Malki (penalty) and Mohammed al Ghafri were on target on both the occasions for Oman.
The deserving win in Kuala Lumpur puts Oman on nine points, level with Kyrgyz Republic, who defeated Chinese Taipei 5-1. Kyrgyz Republic are on top of the Group D table with a better goal average.
Malaysia are third with six points, while Chinese Taipei are at the bottom with no points.
The match kick-started with a threatening break by the hosts when midfielder Arif Aiman snatched the ball from the Oman defender Mohammed al Musallami and got near the goal area.
Oman goalkeeper Ibrahim al Mukhaini quickly grabbed the pass by Arif into the goalmouth against an onrushing Darren Lok to keep the danger away.
Oman made their first solid attack in the eighth minute and Jameel al Yahmadi’s left-footer inside the Malaysian box missed the left post narrowly.
In the 13th minute, Mohsin al Ghassani failed to control a good cross at the left flank near the Malaysian goal post.
Jameel got another brilliant pass in the 18th minute from Mohsin but could not keep the ball under control in front of the Malaysian goalpost.
Realising the weak links in the Malaysian defence, coach Pan-Gon Kim replaced Azam Azmi with Daniel Ting as early as the 26th minute.
In the 33rd minute, Jameel was again in the thick of the action as his well-directed pass inside the box aimed at Mohsin, was cleared to safety by a timely intervention by Malaysian goalkeeper Siyahan Azmi.
In the 41st minute, Oman’s Salah al Yahyaei unleashed a firm shot outside the box that was punched away by goalkeeper Azmi. Mohsin rushed in to take the rebound but his shot ballooned over the bar.
Three minutes later, Mohsin cleverly headed in from a nice lob by Salah al Yahyaei but keeper Siyahan brought out a spectacular back-curving save to keep the slate clean.
COOL PENALTY
In the additional time of the first half, Mohsin made amends for his couple of near-misses as the forward was brought down by the Malaysian goalkeeper Azmi who received a yellow card for the foul.
Omar al Malki made no mistake from the spot kick (45+4) to comfortably place the ball into the centre of the Malaysian net to take the lead.
Malaysia brought in Brendan Gan in place of Syamer Kutty Abba during the start of the second half.
The second half came into life with a strong shot from Salah al Yahyaei just in front of the Malaysian box that hit the left-side post and the rebound was cleared by the goalkeeper for a corner in the 51st minute.
Malaysia briefly threatened the Omani goalpost in the 63rd minute after a corner and it was finally cleared away for another corner.
Oman’s Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy made the first substitutions in the 65th minute with Zahir al Aghbari replacing Jameel al Yahmadi and Abdul Rahman al Mushaifri coming in for Salah al Yahyaei.
In search of an equaliser, Malaysia brought in Paulo Josue in place of Stuart Wilkin in the 73rd minute.
Silhavy again made a double change in the 75th minute. Mohammed al Ghafri replaced Mohsin al Ghassani and Hatem Sultan replaced Omer al Malki.
In the 80th minute, Oman almost doubled the score when Mohammed al Ghafri got the ball near the Malaysian penalty area after a miss-pass.
Al Ghafri turned round and hit a strong shot that hit the side bar and was saved by the keeper.
In the 84th minute, Al Ghafri received a yellow card for a rough tackle.
Oman sealed the game in the additional time for a second time (90+4) when Mohammed al Ghafri left-footed shot from the centre of the box entered the centre of the Malaysian goal after a clever assist by Abdullah Fawaz.
Pictures: Oman Football Association
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