Oman’s Al-Seeb FC beat Bahrain’s Riffa and qualifies for the AFC Cup final

Oman’s Al-Seeb FC qualified for the 2022 AFC Cup finals, after defeating its Bahraini guest, Riffa, 4-0 in the confrontation that took place between them on Tuesday at Al-Seeb Stadium in Muscat, to decide the final of the West Asian region.

The goals of Al-Seeb were scored by Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali (48), Ahmed Al-Siyabi (61), Salah Al Yahyai (79), and Cosmos Doda (90 + 2).

Al-Seeb qualified for the final of the tournament to face the winner of the zone final match between Sogdiana of Uzbekistan and his guest of Malaysian Kuala Lumpur City, which will be held on Wednesday in Jizakh.

It is noteworthy that the 2022 AFC Cup final will be held on October 22, at the winner of the Sogdiana match and Kuala Lumpur City.

The Omani Al-Seeb team imposed its presence from the beginning of the match by owning the ball in the middle of the field thanks to the movements of Eid Al-Farsi and Ali Al-Busaidi, in front of them Salah Al-Yahyai and Abdul-Aziz Al-Muqbali, while the Bahraini Riffa tried to absorb the quick start for the owners of the land and was relatively successful in reducing its danger.

The first dangerous attempt was at the 17th minute, when Al-Seeb player Mohammed Al-Habsi hit a strong ball from outside the penalty area, but it passed next to the right post of the Riffa goal.

Over time, the attacks of the hosts became more dangerous. Attempts continued on the Bahraini goal, the first of which was the sudden shot of the player Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali, but Riffa goalkeeper Abdul Karim Al-Fardan excelled in deporting it to a corner kick (33).

Al-Fardan played the championship role when he blocked two dangerous shots, the first through Nigerian professional Daniel Ajibola (34), and the second by Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali in the 35th minute, so that the goalkeeper kept a clean sheet until the whistle at the end of the first half of the match.

Al-Seeb started the second half as it had in the first, and surprised the visitors’ goal with an early goal when Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali took advantage of the ball that slid in front of him and the goal was empty and easily put it in the net at the 48th minute.

Al-Muqbali almost doubled the result after only four minutes, when Muhammad Al-Habsi’s pass put him in an appropriate position to shoot, but Riffa goalkeeper Abdul Karim Al-Fardan successfully prevented his attempt (51).

After that, the Bahraini Riffa team felt the embarrassment of the situation as they tried to adjust the result before the passage of time, and its striker Mohammed Al-Rumaihi had a great opportunity in that when he faced Al-Seeb goalkeeper Ahmed Al-Rawahi and put the ball over him, but it passed next to the left post (58).

In the midst of Riffa’s search for an amendment, the star of the match, Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali, surprised the guests’ defense with a distinctive pass on the foot of the substitute Ahmed Al-Siyabi, who touched the ball for the first time and put it into the net, the second reinforcement goal of Al-Seeb (62).

Then Riffa intensified his search to reduce the difference and had what he wanted when the referee awarded him a penalty kick, but his player Mohammed Marhoon hit the ball on the left post of Ahmed Al-Rawahi’s goal (76).
Salah Al Yahyai deepened Riffa’s surgeries after Ali Al Busaidi’s pass put him against goalkeeper Abdul Karim Al Fardan and hit the ball from between his feet into the net, Al Seeb’s third goal (79).

Ghanaian substitute Cosmos Doda confirmed the eligibility of the Al-Seeb team’s victory in the match when he rose to the cross of his colleague Hassan Al-Ajmi and headed the ball into the Bahraini net for the fourth goal (90 + 2), ending the confrontation with a great Omani victory.

Al-Seeb topped the Group A standings in the first round with 6 points from three matches, as it beat Jableh of Syria 1-0 and lost to Kuwait 1-2, then beat Al-Ansar of Lebanon 4-0.

On the other hand, Riffa won second place in the second group with 6 points from three matches, as it lost to Al-Arabi Al-Kuwaiti 2-2 and defeated the Omani Dhofar 3-2 and the Palestinian youth of Hebron 3-1.

In the semi-finals of the West Asian region, Al-Seeb defeated Al-Arabi 2-1 after the extension in Kuwait, while Riffa beat its compatriot East Riffa by penalty shootout 5-4 after the two teams tied 1-1 in Muharraq.