Muscat: Dhofar emerged a comfortable 4-1 winner over Al Suwaiq late on Friday in the 18th week of Omantel League 2021-22. It was the eleventh victory for the Salalah giants in the league. The triumph helped Dhofar go top of the table with 38 points with a better goal average than Seeb and Al Nahda who also have 38 points. Seeb were second and Al Nahda third in the table.
At the Al Saada Sports Complex, Yazeed al Mashani took the lead for the hosts as he scored the opening goal while Al Suwaiq equlaised after Mohammed al Mashari scored an own goal. Al Mashari made amends to his mistake by scoring the second goal for Dhofar ahead of the half-time.
Former Oman captain Ahmed Kanu received a red card and Al Suwaiq played with 10 players from the 58th minute. The hosts took the advantage as Hussain al Shahri struck two more goals to end the fixture at 4-1. It was the second successive loss for the northern Batinah team after they lost 1-0 against Al Nasr in the previous round.
Dhofar, coached by Rasheed Jaber, will meet Al Musannah in the forthcoming round.
MUSCAT EDGE AL RUSTAQ
At the Seeb Stadium, Muscat snatched a crucial 2-1 win over opponents Al Rustaq to keep the capital city little away from the relegation zone. The win moved Muscat to tenth place at 19 points while Al Rustaq remained in the sixth position with 29 points.
Qadir Faal and Shawqi al Raqadi scored the goals for Muscat while Sameh al Hamrashdi netted the consolation goal for Al Rustaq. Muscat will face Al Suwaiq in the next round in a tight clash while Al Rustaq will take on Nizwa.
Al Musannah registered their second successive victory over Al Nasr 2-1 at the Rustaq Sports Complex. The win secured Musannah's presence among top four teams as they now have 30 points while Al Nasr were dropped to fifth spot with a lesser goal average than Al Musannah.
In earlier matches of 18th week, Seeb edged Sohar 1-0 at Seeb Stadium on Thursday with Mohsin al Ghassani netting the all-important goal.
Al Nahda continued their top show in the league as they defeated Al Ittihad 3-1, while Bahla and Saham match ended in a goalless draw and both teams shared the points. Nizwa registered an important victory over Oman club 2-0 to move slightly up than three teams in the danger zone.
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