Close battle at the top

Muscat: A close battle seems to be building at the top of the 2023-24 Omantel League as there is just two points separating leaders Seeb and holders Al Nahda following the conclusion of the eighth round matches recently.

Holders Al Nahda closed down the gap after recording an impressive 3-1 win over bottom-placed Bahla at the Nizwa Sports Complex on Sunday night.

Coached by Hamad Al Azani, Al Nahda is currently also the only Oman club to feature in a
continental championship as they are competing in the AFC Cup West Zone round.

Following their victory over Bahla, the Buraimi-based club increased their points tally to 18 points, just two points behind two-time champions Seeb, who dropped points only for the second time in the season to hold the top place with 20 points.

Seeb were held to a goalless draw by hosts Sohar at the Sohar Sports Complex.

Sohar’s stalemate with Seeb was the second draw of the eighth round and the Batinah club are now at fourth spot with 15 points, a point behind Oman Club, who defeated Al Rustaq 1-0 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.

Omar Shawqigot the winner for Oman Club in the 79th minute in a closely-fought match against Rustaq.

The other draw of the week saw Sur hold Al Shabab to a 2-2 draw while the remaining four matches had decisive results.

Elsewhere, the much-anticipated Salalahderby ended in favour of Al Nasr as they trounced 11-time record champions Dhofar 3-1 at the Al Saada Sports Complex.

Dhofar took lead through Thani al Rushedi in the 30th minute but Al Nasr came back strongly and got the equaliserfive minutes later through Waleed al Musallami.

In the second half, Al Nasr took the lead when AbdullahZahirfound the target in the 50th minute and Abdul Majeed Shamas rounded off a deserving win for Al Nasr with a goal in the 64thminute.

With the win, Al Nasr climbed to sixth spot with nine points, where they are tied with Al Shabab and Ibri with the same number of points but have better goal-difference.

Salalah heavyweights Dhofar have been struggling this season and slipped to tenth place with seven points.

Ibri recorded their third victory of the season with a 2-0 win over Al Wahda 2-0 at the SurSports Complex. Al Wahda continued to remain in relegation zone at 11th place with just four points only.

The next round will take place on October 27 and 28.

Ban on cheerleading gears in stadium
Meanwhile, the Oman Football Association (OFA) on Wednesday issued a prohibitory order on cheerleading gears in stadiums until further notice.

In a notice on its official handle on X, formerly Twitter, OFA announced that it is prohibiting the use of all cheering equipments (drums, tambourines, loudspeakers, trumpets, etc.) in the stands, during the various Oman league matches of the 2023/24 season.

The Association has, however, not specified the reasons for the decision.