Dhofar’s superb winning streak since last season was broken by Bahla as they beat the eleven times league champions 1-0 at Ibri Sports Complex on Friday in fourth week of Omantel League.
The new head coach of Bahla, Saif al Oufi, succeeded to lead the team to the first victory as he was appointed as head coach of the team from the previous round where they played out a 2-2 draw against Suhar at the latter’s home.
The national coach, al Oufi, affirmed that all the players delivered a high performance match against the top Salalah team. Al Oufi added in an exclusive statement to the Observer, “Despite the challenges and difficulties that the team is suffering from, we are trying to overcome that and hope to register the win in every match,” the coach said.
“Our aim in this season is to stay among the best clubs in the top-tier league. It is a difficult competition and some clubs have players from national team with better experience than us. Yes, we managed to win against the defending champion Dhofar, but they registered a strong comeback in the upcoming rounds as they have experience and skills,” Sultanate U-19 team’s brother pointed out.
“The team will have some rest days prior to the next round taking place. We will play in the OFA Cup ahead to our upcoming match against Seeb in the next round. During the break period, we will focus on eliminating the weaknesses and enhance the strong points and shape the readiness for the next matches,” Al Oufi concluded.
In other match, Fanja stopped victories of league leaders, Saham, as they held them to a goalless draw at the Sohar Sports Complex. Despite their draw, Saham topped the league order with ten points and are at a two points gap from Rustaq, the closest team in the tally. Fanja are on fourth points and placed eighth.
Rustaq beat Al Nahdha
Rustaq cut the gap with the Omantel League leaders by two points with a win against Al Nahdha 2-1 this weekend. Also, Batinah Club benefited from this victory as they overcame Al Nahdha and put themselves in second place with eight points, while Buraimi representatives remained with their seven points and placed in fourth position.
Rustaq ended the first half ahead with 1-0 and Essam al Subhi netted the goal. Rustaq’s players continued their attacking in the second half and they managed to add the second goal through Thani al Rushaidi. Rustaq’s second goalscorer was handed a red card in the last ten minutes. However, Al Nahdha could not capitalise on the advantage.
Suwaiq win
Al Suwaiq snatched their first three points in the league as they beat Suhar 2-1 at Rustaq Sports Complex, in a spirited display. Mohsin al Ghassani and Khalil al Alawi netted for the winner while Mohammed al Siyabi scored for guests in the dying minutes. Al Suwaiq are tenth with four points while Suhar are stuck on seven points at the third place.
Elsewhere, Oman Cub earned a 1-0 win against Al Nasr and Seeb blanked bottom-placed Mirbat 2-1 at Salalah Sports Complex. The capital city club, Muscat, registered a crucial 1-0 win over Al Oruba at the latter’s homeground in Sur Sports Complex. The win helped Muscat to climb to eleventh position with four points while Sharqiyah Club are struggling at the bottom with one single point.
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