Friday 08 / November / 2024
Muscat: Sohar’s impressive start to the 2023-24 Omantel League season continued with the Al Batinah side recording one of the biggest upsets early in the season last week.
Playing at home on Wednesday night, Sohar stunned record 11-time champions and Salalah heavyweights Dhofar 3-0 to register the biggest win of the third round of the top-flight league at the Sohar Sports Complex.
The victory ensured Sohar continued to lead the standings for the third successive round with seven points but on goal-difference with defending champions, Al Nahda, closely on their heels, also having seven points.
Al Nahda were a comfortable 3-1 victors over Ibri for their second successive triumph after beginning the season with a draw.
Among the other winners were two-time champions Seeb, who were dominant in their 2-0 win over Oman at the Seeb Sports Stadium, to pick up their second consecutive victory and be at the third spot with a game in hand.
Late goals for Sohar
At the Sohar Sports Complex, the hosts had a good home crowd to cheer them and egged on by their fans, Sohar produced a sizzling display to outplay their fancied rivals. Despite both the teams playing an attacking game, goals remained elusive due to poor finishing and the first half ended goalless.
Sohar drew the first blood soon after the restart as Frank William scored in the 55th minute. Dhofar had a golden chance to equalise but Moataz Saleh failed to convert a spot kick in the 74th minute. The penalty hit the woodwork and Dhofar’s Abdullah Noah failed to find the target off the rebound.
Sohar capitalised on the miss and the hosts’ foreign recruit Daniel Aitor hammered in two quick goals in the injury time for a comprehensive 3-0 win that helped the side boost their goal-difference.
For Dhofar, it was their second defeat in three games despite starting the season with an easy 3-0 win over Al Wahda.
Two in a row for Al Nahda
At the Al Buraimi Sports Complex on Thursday night, hosts Al Nahda scored two goals within the first 20 minutes, courtesy of Salah al Yahyaei and Essam al Subhi.
Ibri managed to pull one back through their professional Augusti Malo. However, al Yahyaei netted the third goal to take the game beyond their rivals as the hosts led 3-1 at the interval.
Both the sides failed to score in the next 45 minutes as Hamed Al Azani’s Green Brigade picked three points to keep the pressure on leaders Sohar.
At the Seeb Sports Stadium, Abdulaziz Al Miqbali got the first goal for Seeb against Oman Club in the 37th minute while Omar Al Fazari put in a goal in the 95th minute of the match.
Also on Thursday, Sur were held by bottom-placed Al Wahda in a six-goal thriller with the match at the Sur Sports Complex ending in a 3-3 draw. It was a great comeback from the hosts who trailed 2-0 early in the game as Wahda found the goals through Perry Francis and Walid Al Saadi in the 10th and 33rd minutes, respectively.
Sur fought back in the second half to not only equalise but take lead, courtesy a brace from Roy Yoani and Ayman Ibrahim.
Two goals came in the injury time of the match with Yoani raising hopes of Sur win with the third goal in the 95th minute only for the joy to be short-lived as Al Wahda’s Francis getting the equaliser three minutes later for an entertaining draw.
The draw helped Al Wahda, season debutants to pick up their first point of the top-flight league.
In another match played at the Al Saada Sports Complex in Salalah, a ten-man Al Nasr held on to play out a goalless draw with Al Shabab. Both the teams were goalless at halftime, but Al Nasr were reduced to ten men soon after the restart as Musab al Mamari was shown a 54th-minute red card.
Al Shabab failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage and had a golden opportunity to seal the match in their favour when they were awarded a spot kick. However, Abdul Rahman al Ghassani’s penalty kick was saved by Al Nasr goalkeeper Hassan al Breiki.
Both sides failed to end the stalemate to pick a point each with Al Nasr managing their first point after three rounds. Al Shabab continue to look for their maiden victory with two draws and one loss so far.
And in another match that was played on Wednesday, Bahla and Al Rustaq drew 1-1 at the Nizwa Sports Complex.
Bahla’s Richard Arthur scored the fastest goal of the season as he found the target in the second minute of the match. netting an early goal within the second minute, setting the tone for an intense match.
Al Rustaq stung by the early jolt rallied and got the equaliser before the half-hour mark as Mohammed Al Ghafri scored in the 26th minute. The match was played with lot of intensity that kept the referee busy as he flashed as many as six yellow cards with four Bahla players booked while two Rustaq players got into the books.
It was the third successive draw for Rustaq while Bahla have a win, a loss and a draw so far.
The domestic league now takes a break due to international FIFA Days and will resume on Sept 17.
