Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Amman: Oman’s Al Suwaiq advanced to the last 16 of the AFC Cup from Group A at the expense of Al Faisaly after beating the recently crowned Jordanian champions 3-2 at Amman International Stadium on Wednesday.
Al Abd Al Nofli’s early strike set Al Suwaiq on their way only for Ahmad Hayel to pull the home side level before half-time.
But second half goals from Waleed Abdallah and Hamood Saleh secured Al Suwaiq a third win of the campaign, with Abdelhadi Al Maharmeh’s strike coming too late to save Al Faisaly.
With Kuwait’s Al Qadsia beating Syria’s Al Ittihad 5-2 to also finish at the top of the table on 10 points, Al Suwaiq must travel to Saudi Arabia to face Group C winners Al Ettifaq in the Round of 16 later this month after finishing as runner-up in Group A after losing both games against Al Qadsia earlier in the campaign.
"We had a great achievement today as we qualified to the next round and we got the ticket to the Round of 16 after a hard away match,” said Al Suwaiq coach Mudafar Jabar.
“We managed to get a good victory against a team whom I considered one of the candidates to win the title.
"We managed to close the gaps and had a good defensive display which forced Al Faisaly to use the long balls. We used the quick counter attacks and we managed to score three goals which helped us to win."
Knowing victory would secure their place in the last 16, Al Suwaiq opened the scoring after just eight minutes as Al Nofli’s header from Bilal Obaid’s long ball forward looped over Al Faisaly goalkeeper Lo'ai Al Amairaeh.
Al Faisaly responded 11 minutes before the break as Sharif Adnan crossed for Hayel to head past Al Suwaiq goalkeeper Faiyz Al Rusheidi.
But Al Suwaiq regained the lead just three minutes into the second half as Gaye Ablaye found Fahad Khamis in space on the right and his cross found Abdallah, who beat substitute Al Faisaly goalkeeper Mohamad Shantawi with a first time finish.
And Al Suwaiq added a third with five minutes remaining as second half substitute Saleh surged past Al Faisaly defender Mohammad Khamees before beating Shantawi.
Al Faisaly set up a nervous finish as Al Maharmeh fired home after the Al Suwaiq defence had only partially cleared Adnan’s cross.
But despite the dismissal of Ablaye in the sixth minute of added time, Al Suwaiq held on to claim all three points as Al Qadsia’s win over Al Ittihad saw Al Faisaly finish a point off the pace.
"It's a shame that we lost the chance to qualify to the next round after losing tonight. We were looking forward to continue celebrations after winning the league but we were not lucky,” said Al Faisaly coach Rateb Al Awadat.
"There are a lot of reasons behind the defeat today as the players were tired due to the heavy schedule while our national team players were afraid of injuries. We indeed lost Ahmad Hayel at half time and all these were negative issues that affected us."