Oman toils to victory over India in World Cup qualifier
Striker Muhsen al Ghassani nets the only goal of the match after missing an early penalty
There was an air of hope and a celebratory mood that enveloped the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC) on Tuesday as hosts Oman took on India in a Group E match of the joint 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup qualifier.
At the end of an intense and exciting match, more than 20,000 Omani supporters had another day to celebrate and continue the festivities to mark the 49th National Day as the Red Warriors laboured to a 1-0 win against a gritty rival.
Oman's Muhsen al Ghassani, the lone striker in Erwin Koeman's plans for the night, emerged the hero but not before breaking the hearts of the home fans early into the match when he missed a penalty.
Ghassani came up with a beautiful match-winner in the 33rd minute to erase the memories of his penalty miss in the seventh minute of the game.
The win took Oman to 12 points, one behind Qatar, which also edged past Afghanistan 1-0 in another group match on Tuesday, while the defeat meant India still await its first victory in the Qualifiers, having drawn three and lost two, with both its defeats coming against Oman.
Oman gave its home fans, who thronged in large numbers to cheer them, a quick start and it needed just six minutes for the hosts to get a golden chance to make a breakthrough.
India's defender Rahul Bheke was penalised for a foul on an darting Ghassani inside the box. The spot-kick was a poor effort by the Omani striker as he skied his shot wide over the post.
However, with Oman playing an attacking game with midfielders Al Monther al Alawi, Mohsin Jawhar and Mohammed al Ghafri teaming up well, the efforts finally bore fruit in the 33rd minute.
Jawhar set up a beautiful defence-splitting through pass for Ghassani who made no mistake, this time, to slot the ball past Indian custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to make up for the earlier miss. The hosts led 1-0 at the interval with Indian plans going haywire in the first-half as coach Igor Stimac was forced to make two substitutions in a span of ten minutes.
First, midfielder Pronay Halder suffered a shoulder injury after an early tackle to be replaced by Rai Vinit in the 27th minute and soon defender Adil Khan was forced out and replaced by Anad Edathodika in the 36th minute.
The two changes in the first session seemed to have derailed Stimac's plans but credit to the Blue Tigers, who roared back in the post-interval session with lot of energy and grit.
India pressed hard for the equaliser and at times threatened to convert the chances created, in particular, from the left flank by the speedy winger Muhammed Ashique Kuruniyan. Oman nearly doubled its lead in the 64th minute but Indian goalkeeper Sandhu dived full length to his left to block a Jawhar free-kick.
Oman then had to endure some anxious moments before earning a well-deserved win.
For India, the bid for an elusive win continues and its hopes for a qualification in World Cup qualifying third round is almost over after its second loss.
The Indian team is, however, still in the hunt for a third-round berth for the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers. The third-placed teams and the best four fourth-placed teams from the eight groups automatically get a spot in the third round of the qualifiers of the continental championships.