Friday 26 / July / 2024
Muscat: His Majesty’s Cup champions Al Nahda completed a grand domestic double on Friday when they claimed the 2022-23 Omantel League title.
On Friday, playing in their penultimate league round, Al Nahda outplayed Al Musannah 3-0 at the Buraimi Sports Complex to send the home crowd into raptures with their fourth league title.
With just a round to go, Al Nahda took an unassailable lead with 55 points, six points more than their nearest rival, Al Suwaiq which drew with Bahla in an eight-goal thriller. Last season’s double-title holder Seeb are closely following Suwaiq with their back-to-back wins to reach 48 points and a match to go.
Seeb take on Rustaq in the final round game on May 23, the same day when Suwaiq will play Sohar. A win for Seeb and Suwaiq will keep them in the present standings of second and third respectively.
Champions Al Nahda will visit Sur and would hope to sign off in style. The prize-distribution will be held after the match.
Earlier in March, Hamad al Azani’s side had edged past Seeb to claim their maiden HM’s Cup title and Friday’s Omantel League crown is the fourth time they have won the league honours.
The last time Al Nahda had won the league title was in 2013-14 season. All the four league crowns of the club have come in the 21st century with the maiden league crown in 2006-07 season followed by the second in 2008-09.
With four titles, Al Nahda have joined a club comprising Al Arouba, Al Suwaiq of having the honour of four league titles each. Salalah giants Dhofar lead the list with 11 titles followed by Fanja with nine and Al Nasr with five.
The current season has been extraordinary for Al Azani’s side as they recorded a total of 16 victories in the 25 rounds and played seven draws. On Friday, club patron Sheikh Ahmed al Nuaimi was present to watch the title win and congratulated coach Al Azani and the team.
With just two defeats, one of which came last week against Seeb, the club garnered 55 points and scored the maximum goals (34). They conceded just eight goals throughout the season.
This is the second time in a row that a club has achieved a domestic double, with Seeb doing the same in the previous season and going on to also win the coveted AFC Cup title, the first time an Omani club had won a continental crown.
Earlier last week, three teams – Al Arouba, Al Ittihad and Al
Bashayer were relegated to the first division.
Penultimate round standings: 1. Al Nahda (55 points, winner), 2. Al Suwaiq (49), 3. Seeb (48), 4. Al Rustaq (43), 5. Dhofar (42), 6. Sohar (37), 7. Bahla (37), 8. Oman (36), 9. Al Musannah (30), 10. Al Nasr (30), 11. Sur (27), Relegated: 12. Al Ittihad (17), 13. Al Arouba (16), 14. Al Bashayer (12).
