An exciting Omani victory over Kuwait
In a match hosted by Abdullah Al Khalifa Stadium between Oman and Kuwait, the game ended with a difficult and exciting victory for the defending champion Oman for the second round of the Gulf Championship 24.
Oman coach Dutchman Koeman started the match with a 4-4-2 line-up with Al-Muqbali and Al-Ghassani in the presence of Al-Mundhir Al-Alawi and Mohsen Jawhar.
Al-Ghazani started the first attack with a shot that passed safely for Hamid Al-Qallaf. Al-Ghassani tried again but he was intercepted. Al-Marri returned to the video assistant referee (VAR) to give a penalty which was scored at the fifth minute.
Al-Muqbali shot it scoring the first goal and spreading the joy. Kuwait responded strongly and got two corners.
Al-Ghassani led an Omani attack at the 28th minute and decided to shot it, but Al-Qallaf grabbed it brilliantly. Then Kuwait responded through a shot from Abdullah Al-Buraiki. Al-Marri gave the second yellow card of the match in the face of Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali.
At the 30th minute, the Omani team got another penalty after Al-Muqbali was fouled. He took it himself and scored the second goal.
The first serious Kuwaiti attack came through Yousef Nasser with a close shot in the woods of Rashidi. Iraqi Muhannad Qassim raised five additional minutes but nothing changed in the result to end the first half with a (2-0) lead of Oman.
Second half
The second half started and Thamer Enad made two changes in the midfield – with Faisal Zayed Al-Harbi and Mubarak Al-Fanini in place of Fahad Al-Ansari and Abdullah Al-Buraiki. Yousef Nasser from two headers was close to score the first goal but they passed. Kuwait’s coach was forced to complete his changes after the injury of Al-Feneni who was replaced by Shabib Al-Khalidi.
Oman’s captain got a third yellow card in the match. Koeman made his first substitute at the 69th minute by entering Arshad Al-Alawi in place of Al-Ghassani.
Kuwait took possession of the stadium and Oman only defended their goal
There were 7,853 spectators in the stadium.
The match reached its 85th minute and the Kuwaiti fans rose in enthusiasm when Faisal Zayed launched a shot that landed in the arms of Fayez Al-Rashidi. The referee warned Oman defender Abdul Salam Amer.
Five more minutes were added by Muhannad Qasim. Koeman made his third change with the exit of Al-Mundhir and the arrival of defender Imran Al-Haidy to play with six defenders.
[11:22 PM, 11/30/2019] Ahmed Arabian Gulf Cup: Maqbali: We knew how to win the three points
Oman striker Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali was awarded the best player of the match after scoring two goals in the first half against Kuwait.
Maqbali played 90 minutes and was the first attacking option for coach Koman.
Al-Muqbali with these two goals reached his fourth goal in the history of the Gulf tournaments. He also scored two goals against Kuwait in Gulf 22 in Riyadh, 2014.
Al-Maqbali said after the confrontation that his country achieved the most important thing, which is to get out the three points and achieve the first win in the tournament.
On the pressure of the Kuwaiti team on the Omani goal during the second half, he said: “All changes of the Kuwaiti coach during the second half were offensive, which generated constant pressure, but in the end we knew how to get the three points.”