The first ten minutes of play saw no chances but as both teams eventually found their feet, Ali Matar received Salman Al Awadhi’s pass before letting fly from outside the box, but his shot missed the frame of the goal. 

A few minutes later Ali Salem opened the scoring for the Omani side with a perfectly executed free kick that saw him curl the ball above the wall and into the top corner after Saif Al Hashan had fouled Hussain Al Shahri.

Arabi equalised shortly after the half hour mark thanks to Ablaye Mbengue who scored his third of the competition and kept up his one goal per game record so far. The Senegalese forward got in behind his marker to receive Al Sanousi Al Hadi’s through ball before rounding a defender and slotting in from a tight angle to make it 1-1.

Shortly after the break, Dhofar goalkeeper Sulaiman Al Breiki played with fire in front of his own goal when he dwelled too long on Abdul Sallam Amur’s back pass, prompting a press from Al Hadi but Al Breiki quickly cleared the ball for a throw-in. 

Badr Abdulrahman later forced Al Breiki into a save following a corner, with his shot aiming for the far post but an alert and well positioned keeper parried the ball away. 

On the counter attack with most of the Dhofar side in the opposite half, Hussain Ali intercepted the ball then picked out the loosely marked Mbengue at the halfway line, the forward then caught Sulaiman Abdulghafoor off his line and attempted an audacious shot from far out that the keeper comfortable managed to catch.

It didn't matter in the end as the point was enough for Arabi to advance.