Oman suffers defeat in Turkmenistan

11/23/2015 4:34:19 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)

Oman lost ground to 2018 FIFA World Cup & 2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying Group D leader Iran after going down 1-2 to Turkmenistan on Tuesday as coach Paul Le Guen's side tasted defeat for the first time in the campaign.

According to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website Artur Gevorkyan broke the deadlock five minutes from the half-time break at the Kopetdag Stadium before Suleyman Muhadov MVP and Top Scorer as former club FC HTTU won the the 2014 AFC President's Cup doubled Turkmenistan's advantage in the 67th minute.

Substitute Mohammed al Ghassani pulled one back for Oman in the 70th minute - reducing the deficit just five minutes after coming on for Abdul Aziz Al Maqbali - but the sultanate was unable to add to its tally as the Turkmen recorded their third win of the qualifiers.

The victory moved Amanklych Kochumov's side up to ten points one fewer that Oman which trails Iran by three points after the three-time AFC Asian Cup winner defeated Guam 6-0 in Tuesday's other Group D fixture.

The group winner and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.

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