Muscat, Feb 23 -
Second-placed Dhofar missed a golden chance to go level with league leaders Seeb after they were held to a goalless draw by Al Suwaiq late on Monday at Al Rustaq Sports Complex.
Seeb’s 2-1 defeat by Al Nasr in the 10th round of Omantel League trimmed their lead over Dhofar by two points in the points table. Seeb remained on top with 22 points followed by Dhofar with 20 points.
Al Suwaiq, under the supervision of the experienced Iraqi coach Hakeem Shaker, missed many scoring attempts while Rasheed Jaber’s men did not succeed in penetrating the defence of goalkeeper Mazin al Kasbi and the match ended goalless.
Oman Club and Bahla match had a same result at the Seeb Stadium. The goalless draw assisted Bahla to jump into sixth place with 15 points while Nizwa remained in the 11th position with seven points.
Experienced national coach Hamed al Azani made a winning debut with Al Nahda as they reached six points. Al Nahda beat Muscat 3-1 at the Seeb Stadium. The seventh defeat of Muscat put them firmly in the relegation zone with three points only.
In earlier fixtures on Sunday, Seeb suffered their second successive loss against Al Nasr after going down 2-1 at the Seeb Stadium. The victory took Salalah powerhouse to one spot above at fourth place with 18 points. Seeb took the lead through Zahir al Aghbari but Al Nasr fought back with Moosa Kabiro netting the equaliser. Marwan Talal scored the winner in the second half.
Al Musannah impress
Unfancied Al Musannah continued to impress with a 2-0 win over Al Rustaq in the Southern Batinah derby at the Al Rustaq Sports Complex. The triumph raised Al Musannah’s kitty to 20 points in the third place while Al Rustaq remained at seventh position with 14 points.
Al Ittihad snatched three crucial points from Saham with a 2-1 score at Sohar Sports Complex.
The win took the Salalah-based team to move into eighth place with 12 points, while Saham are last without any points. Al Ittihad recently secured spot in the semifinals and they are gearing up for their match against Al Suwaiq at Al Saada Sports Complex on Friday.
Nizwa’s Abas al Hashmi spoiled the hopes of Sohar as he netted the equaliser with 15 minutes to go. Sohar took a 2-0 lead as Mohammed al Siyabi and Said al Ruzaiqi found the targets.
Nizwa’s top professional player Sessi reduced the gap before Abas al Hashmi struck the equaliser to end the match in a 2-2 draw. Both teams did not benefit from the draw result as Sohar remained in the previous 11th place with seven points while Sohar are 10th with eight points.
Adil Al Balushi
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