(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) First-division side Mirbat booked its spot in next year's Omantel Professional League (OPL) on Sunday when it drew with OPL club Al Khabourah 1-1 in the second leg at the Sohar Sports Complex to win the playoff contest 2-1 on aggregate.
Mirbat had won the first leg on Wednesday by a solitary goal.
On Sunday, Khabourah got to a dream start as it struck in the seventh minute to draw parity on aggregate. However, Mirbat equalised in the 52nd minute with a crucial away goal and hung on to clinch its promotion into the OPL for the 2017-18 season and return to top-flight football after 21 years.
Mirbat will become the third club from the Salalah region to feature in the OPL next season besides defending champion Dhofar and Al Nasr.
Mirbat had finished third in the first division league and joined first-division winner Al Mudhaibi and runner-up Al Salam in Oman's top flight next season.
Mirbat coach Akram Habrish said, 'It is a great result as we are back in the OPL after more than two decades.'
Mirbat was relegated to the first division in 1996 and since then had failed to return to the top-tier league.
For Khabourah, which got promoted in 2014 as the first-division winner, it is curtains in the top flight after three years, with its best display coming in the first year when it finished sixth.
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