MUSCAT: Oman’s Ali al Busaidy netted an equaliser in the 80th minute to snatch an away crucial one point from South Korea as the seventh round match of Group B between Oman and South Korea ended in a 1-1 draw on Thursday at the Goyang Stadium. The draw meant Oman revived their hopes to secure slot to the play-offs for the additional two tickets to the finals.
The Red Warriors raised their credit to seven points in the fourth place while South Korea remained on top with 15 points. Oman will meet Kuwait on Tuesday in Kuwait City in their next match while South Korea will take on Jordan in Amman city.
Hwang Hee-Chan took the lead for the hosts as he scored the opening goal in the 41st minute after a perfect pass from the substitute Lee Kang-in and Hwang found the target to make it 1-0.
In the last ten minutes of the match, Bangkok United SC striker Mohsin al Ghassani supplied a short pass to Ali al Busaidy, whose strong shot went past the Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-Woo into left side of the net for a precious equaliser for Oman.
CAUTIOUS START
The match started cautiously from both sides and there were not many serious scoring attempts in the opening half. Both teams failed to send strong shots in the first 30 minutes despite some attempts from the group-topper side, but Oman’s defenders broke all their chances. The hosts created a first chance through Hwang who ran towards the goal in the 16th minute but was blocked by defender Khalid al Buraiki outside the box.
South Korea head coach Myung-Bo Hong decided to bring Lee Kang-In who replaced Park Seung-Ho because of an injury. After many movements and well-deserved control of the ball by the Korean side, Hwang Hee-Chan broke the deadlock in the 41st minute when Lee Kang-in, who had come on three minutes earlier, provided a perfect assistance inside the box to Hwang. Then, Hwang managed to continue the flying ball with his first touch into the bottom right corner of Oman’s goalie Ibrahim al Mukhaini's net.
South Korean captain Son Heung-min missed the chance to double the lead by first half end as he sent a straight shot that touched Ibrahim’s arms. The first half ended with the hosts leading by 1-0.
SCORING ATTEMPTS
Following the break, Oman’s Ibrahim al Mukhaini saved a crucial scoring attempt of Oh Se-hun’s downward header from the edge of the six-yard box in the 49th minute. One minute later, another attempt missed following an assist by Lee Kang-In to Son Heung-Min, whose right footed shot from outside the box missed to the left.
In the 69th minute, Oman coach Rasheed Jaber made the first two substitutions including Salah al Yahyaei, who replaced Abdullah Fawaz, while Mohsin al Ghassani entered as replacement of Issam al Subhi. The Korean side were looking for more goals as they continued to press hard towards Oman’s side. Midfielder Lee Kang-In and Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min played key roles in setting-up Lee Tae-seok and Oh’s attempts in the 72nd and 73rd minutes but again both attempts did not find the target. As the match was approaching towards the end, substitute Mohsin al Ghassani made a one-two move with Ali al Busaidy as the latter sent a strong shot from the edge of the box past a rooted Jo Hyeon-woo to level the score and make it 1-1.
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