Al Suwaiq hold hosts Seeb in first leg

Muscat: Defending champions Seeb and three-time winners Al Suwaiq ended their HM Cup 2022-23 semifinal first leg in a goalless draw on Monday. At Seeb Stadium, both teams could not penetrate the defending line to score a goal.

Al Rustaq will have the home advantage as both teams meet in the second leg match at the Al Rustaq Sports Complex on Sunday.

Seeb was the better side in the first half of the game as they missed more than five scoring attempts by their strikers including Abdulaziz al Maqbali and Mohsin al Ghassani. Seeb’s movement were led in the centre by Salah al Yahyaei who created different attempts but lacked finishing.

Al Suwaiq’s defenders and national team goalkeeper Fayez al Rushaidi broke all the chances of 2022 AFC Cup champions. On the other hand, coach Ibrahim Somar’s men were focused in the back line and they did not appear more in the attacking area.

In the second-half, the visitors returned back to the match after the substitutions made by coach Somar specially introduction of Abdullah al Saadi. However, the guests’ movements were not converted to goals as defender Mohammed al Musallami and his teammates managed to prevent all the chances properly.

In the dying minutes, Oman international referee Omar al Yaqoobi showed a red card for Seeb’s Jebola after his strong interaction against Al Suwaiq’s midfielder Harib al Saadi in the 96th minute. With this card, Seeb will miss the service of Jebola in the away game at Al Rustaq Sports Complex.

Seeb, coached by national coach Rasheed Jaber, began the match with a starting line-up featured of Ahmed al Rawahi as goalkeeper besides Mohammed Ramadhan, Abdulaziz al Maqbali, Mohammed al Habsi, Mohsin al Ghassani, Ali al Busaidy, Salah al Yahyaei, Hassan al Ajami, Eid al Farsi and Jebola.

Al Suwaiq played the game with Fayez al Rushaidi as goalkeeper alongside to Ahmed al Khamisi, Khalid al Buraiki, Omar al Fazari, Issam al Subhi, Basil al Rawahi, Mohammed al Maashari, Omid Okari, Harib al Saadi and Mamadu Lamin.