MUSCAT, Oct 11
UAE made a strong comeback in the second half to register a 2-1 victory Over Oman late on Saturday at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha in their second and concluding match of Red Warriors at the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to 2026 Playoffs of Group A encounter. The victory for UAE meant, they reached into three points while Oman freezed in one point from the goalless draw against Qatar in the opening match. The upcoming match for UAE against the hosts Qatar on Tuesday will decide the winner from the group.
Both teams began the match strongly as they were looking for an early goal. In the 7th minute, Essam al Subhi managed to benefit from a defending mistake but his ball went outside to corner. Five minutes later, Oman’s Amjad al Harthy send a ground ball inside the box touched the UAE’s defender Kouame Kouadio who scored an own goal as Oman lead 1-0. After the goal, Oman strengthen more the defending side as the opponent faced difficulty to go towards the goalie Ibrahim al Mukhaini. UAE pressed hard in Oman’s area as in the 31st minute, Nicolas Gimenez was very close to score the equlaiser as he entered inside the box but his right shot missed the net to the right after a perfect assist by Yahya al Ghassani following a fast break. UAE’s Yahya al Ghassani replaced by Ali Saleh due to injury in 38th minute. The first hald ended with Red Warriors leading by 1-0.
In the second half, UAE head coach Cosmin Olaroiu made many substitutions including entrance of Harib Abdullah, Yahya Nadir and Caio Canedo. Harib Abdallah did a lot of movements towards Oman’s goalie Ibrahim al Mukhaini as tried to send long distance but saved successfully by Ibrahim al Mukaini. Essam al Subhi received yellow card in the 59th minute after tight interface with Lucas Caio.
In the 69th minute, referee announced for penalty to UAE but it was cancelled after VAR review.
In the 76th minute, UAE scored the equlaiser through a strong header scored by Marcus Melon after a cross by Abdullah Saleh. Abdulrahman al Mushaifri missed a golden opportunity to bring Oman leading but his ball saved by Khalid Essa in the 79th minute. In the 83rd minute, UAE’s Caio Lucas netted the second goal for UAE from long range to go through Ibrahim al Mukhaini to the net. Nine minutes added as additional time for the second half but no change in the result as UAE ended the match on a 2-1 winning note.
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