Muscat: Oman went down valiantly to Saudi Arabia in their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier, losing 1-0 in a tight encounter that was decided by Saleh Al Shehri’s goal in the 42nd minute.

At the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Boushar, where fans were allowed back into the stadium after 18 months following the lifting of COVID restrictions, Oman battled against their neighbours for large parts of the game, but lacked the cutting edge their opposition seemed to have.

With both teams clearly aware of the dangers of making careless mistakes that could gift the opposition a chance to score early in the game, neither Oman goalkeeper Faiz Al Rushaidi, nor his Saudi counterpart Mohammed Al Owais were tested with a shot until the opener from Al Shehri.

When the goal did come, it was a piece of excellent play from the Green Falcons. Captain Salman Al Farraj launched an exquisite curling cross into the box, which was back-heeled the first time by winger Fawad Al Muwallad, for Saleh Al Shehri to fire past Al Rushaidi.

The game had been even until that point…Oman had created more chances and won more corners, but the Saudis had dominated possession.

With the seconds ticking away until half time, Salaah Al Yahyai unleashed a powerful effort from distance that had Al Owais scrambling. At the other end, Al Shehri was denied a second goal scoring attempt after an amazing overhead clearance by Ahmed Al Khamisi.

The game continued to be relatively tight in the second half as well, with both sides ably halting the other’s ability to attack. Shortly after the restart, following the halting of a Saudi attack, a long ball attempted to put Oman’s Al Mandhar Al Alawi through on goal, but the striker was flagged for offside.

With three points towards next year’s World Cup – the first one to be held in the Gulf – up for grabs, both teams were giving it their all in search of victory. As a result, tempers began to fray around the hour mark, forcing referee Hanna Hattab to call players from both sides to defuse the situation.

The hosts won another corner soon afterwards, but were unable to test the Saudi goalkeeper this time either. Oman coach Branko Ivankovic made a number of changes as the half wore on, taking off both of his strikers – Al Alawi and Khalid Al Habsi – as well as full back Amjad Al Harthy.

They were replaced by Issam Al Subhi, the goal scoring hero of Oman’s previous game against Asian giants Japan, as well as Arshad Al Alawi and Abdulaziz Al Maqbali, as the side decided to ramp up their efforts to draw level.

The Saudis, ably guided by manager Herve Renard, who was by the 80th minute wildly gesticulating from the bench for his side to stay composed and see the game through, were able to keep the red waves of attackers at bay, often clearing the ball out of play to run down the clock by a few more seconds, and disrupt Omani play.

Renard helped wear down the seconds during the last few minutes of the game by making substitutions of his own. Goal scorer Al Shehri was the first to be withdrawn, replaced by Ayman Yahya, while Ali Al Hassan came on for Abdulellah Al Malki with three minutes to spare.

Despite the best efforts of Oman, the Saudis hung on for all three points and are second in Group B of the third stage of the Asian section of World Cup qualification. The top two teams from both groups will make it through to next year’s event.

The result puts Oman in fourth place in Group B with three points from two games, while the Saudis are second behind Australia. The top two teams from both groups in the third round of the Asian sector of World Cup Qualifiers will make it through to Qatar 2022.

Oman’s next game is against Australia in Sydney on October 7, while the Saudis play Japan at home on the same day.