Oman, Australia play out a 2-2 draw

Oman held Australia for a 2-2 draw in the Asian qualifiers — Road to Qatar 2022 — group B match here on Tuesday.

At the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Jamie Maclaren of Australia put his team ahead as he netted the first goal in the 15th minute from a penalty while Abdullah Fawaz scored the equaliser for the Oman national team in the 54th minute.

Aaron Mooy managed to bring the Socceroos again into the lead as he struck the second goal in the 79th minute but Fawaz fought back to bring Oman once again to the draw as he scored the second equalising goal in the dying minutes.

The draw meant that the Socceroos complicated Oman’s hopes of getting closer to finish third and advancing to the play-off spot. Australia did not take the benefit of Saudi Arabia’s defeat against Japan 2-0 earlier on Tuesday.

Australia are behind the toppers by four points and three points from second-placed Japan. The Socceroos will host the Samurai on March 24 in a tight clash while Oman will face Vietnam on the same day.

AUSTRALIA DOMINATE

The first half began with Australia domination in the pitch. The visitors’ strikers started weaving more attacks towards Oman’s goalkeeper Fayez al Rushaidi.

An early goal scored by Trent Sainsbury was cancelled by the referee Mohamed Abdullah Hassan due to Sainsbury’s position in offside area.

In the 15th minute, the referee decided a penalty for the visitors after Martin Boyle was brought down in the penalty box after interference by Fayez al Rushaidi who received a yellow card.

The penalty was converted successfully to goal by Jamie Maclaren. The first move for Oman was in the 23rd minute through Abdullah Fawaz but his attempt was denied by the Australian defence. Then, Amjad al Harthy tried for another experiment but blocked again by the defenders. The first half ended with the Socceroos leading by 1-0.

The Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic, head coach of Oman team, started the second half with two substitutions. Omar al Fazari and Mahmood Mabrook replaced Abdulaziz al Gheilani and Mohsin al Ghassani.

The first good scoring attempt for the hosts was in the 50th minute as Al Mundher al Alawi crossed a perfect ball to the box area and Mohsin al Ghassani continued with strong ball that went for side netting.

Oman pressed hard seeking for the equaliser.

Abdullah Fawaz, who had an active game, hit a strong ball went inside the net registering the equaliser in the 54th minute after perfect assistance from Al Mundher al Alawi.

Jackson Irvine missed scoring attempts which could put Australia in lead again as he hit a strong ball to the net but went to the right side in the 68th minute.

The visitors kept in seeking for a winning goal to get closer to the top teams in the group. Aaron Mooy managed to bring the Socceroos into the lead again as he struck the second goal in the 79th minute from a ground shot inside the box with an assistance by Mitchell Duke.

The referee decided for another penalty in the match but this time for Oman after Milos Degenek’s foul in the penalty area. The first goal owner, Abdullah Fawaz, concerted the penalty into a goal in the 89th minute.

The fourth referee decided to add six minutes as additional time. The result remained the same and the match ended in a 2-2 draw.