MUSCAT: Oman’s Al Nahdha bounced back strongly as they registered a 4-0 win over Jabal Al Mukaber Club of Palestine in Group A of the AFC Cup 2023/24 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex late on Monday.
The Oman national representative team had lost 2-1 against Lebanon’s Al Ahed in Muscat on September 19. The win of Al Buraimi-based team took them to lead the group standings after Al Ahed lost to Syria’s Al Futuwa SC 1-0 in another encounter of Group A at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium on Monday.
Al Nahdha grabbed their first winning points and led the table with advantage of goals than Lebanon’s Al Ahed team and Jabal Al Mukaber Club of Palestine who are positioned in second and third places with the same three points respectively.
Oman national team striker Issam al Subhi took the lead for Al Nahdha in the 33rd minute. Bilal bin Saha doubled the score as he netted in the 38th minute before Abdulaziz al Shmousi made it 3-0 after the second half started by six minutes. Abdullah Fawaz concluded the goalscoring spree as he scored the fourth goal in the 64th minute.
Coach Hamed al Azani’s men showed top performance in this game against the Palestinian team in comparison to the previous game which featured some defending mistakes. Al Nahdha were organised and discipline in all the lines and created series of scoring attempts throughout the fixture.
Post the match, Hamed al Azani appreciated the players for their thrilling show. “Congratulations to all the players after the top performance and ending the match on a 4-0 triumph. This is the actual technical performance for the team and I hope the stars will continue with this level in the forthcoming games. We came back strongly after our opening defeat. The team learned from the mistakes," Al Azani said.
The former Oman Olympic coach affirmed that the previous defeat did not impact negatively on the team. “The players entered this match after closing the chapter of the previous match. They were fully focused to capture the required three points. Our target now is to continue in this winning line and I am confident on my team to deliver again in the coming matches,” he signed out.
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