MUSCAT: Bahrain’s Muharraq club advanced to the second round of the King Salman Cup for Arab Football Clubs after they defeated Seeb 5-4 in penalties late on Tuesday.
At Seeb Stadium, the 2022 AFC Cup winners managed to end the regulation time by a 2-0 and it was the same result in the first leg in Manama city in Bahrain on March 14.
In penalties, Seeb’s Salah al Yahyaei missed the second penalty with his kick missing the target. The triumph of Bahraini side meant, they will meet either Tunisia’s US Monastir or Yemen’s Fahman club in the second round of the King Salman Cup for Arab Football Clubs.
Seeb opened the scoring in the 43rd minute from the corner spot. Mohammed al Musallami’s header went to Abdulaziz al Maqbali who put the ball in the net with another header to put Seeb in lead.
In the deciding half, Seeb players pressed hard towards the box area of the rival side through movement of Salah al Yahyaei, Marwan Taeeb and Mohammed al Habsi.
After several attempts, Abdulaziz al Maqbali doubled the result in the 77th minute from the penalty spot. In the penalty shoot-out, Seeb’s Mohammed al Musallami, Abdulaziz al Maqbali, Mohammed Ramadhan and Marwan Taeeb converted their penalties into goals except Salah al Yahyaei’s who’s shot went away from Muharraq goalkeeper Sayyed Mohammed Abbas while Seeb keeper Ahmed al Rawahi could not save the opponents’ penalties.
Seeb head coach Rasheed Jaber said post the match that the team delivered a top game. “The players showed a solid performance during the match and they were focused. This assisted the team to win the game in the regulation time. We were the better side throughout the game and missed several scoring attempts which could not take us to penalties. The team missed one of the penalties and this caused us to exit from the tournament.”
Coach Rasheed Jaber affirmed that taking part in the King Salman Cup for Arab Football Clubs was an advantage for the team. “The team obtained the desired experience from this participation and the team will utilise from this assignment in future games. Now our focus will be shifted to the domestic league as some rounds are remaining and we will aim to register more victories,” he concluded.
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