Al Ahed booked their place in the AFC Cup 2023-24 final after securing a 2-2 draw against Al Nahda at Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex Stadium last night.
Lee Erwin scored both goals as Lebanon’s Al Ahed won 3-2 on aggregate and will either face Australia’s Central Coast Mariners or FK Abdysh Ata Kant of Kyrgyz Republic in the AFC Cup final on May 5.
The hosts saw plenty of the early possession, pinning Al Ahed back in their own half as they looked to level the score up as quickly as possible.
However, despite dominating in the opening 30 minutes, a shot from range by Inters Gui was all the Oman side had to show for their efforts.
A handful of corners for Al Nahda were dealt with, as Al Ahed’s game plan worked for the first half at least.
Despite 80 per cent possession, a half hearted penalty appeal from Billel Bensaha was waved away, and the two sides went in level at the break.
Less than eight minutes into the second half, Al Nahda’s pressure paid off. Salaah Al Yahyaei drove into Al Ahed’s penalty area, finding an unmarked Omer Al Malki to tap home his fifth goal of the competition.
The hosts continued to poke and probe for a second, with both Al Yahyaei and Bensaha at the heart of the action down the channels.
With 20 minutes left on the clock, the number 10 once again danced through the defence from the left hand side, but chose to not pull back and strike at goal, only for his effort to go well wide of the target.
However, despite the run of play, substitute Erwin was picked out by Ali Al Haj inside Al Nahda’s box, who curled the ball into the back of the net to draw level and put the visitors ahead on aggregate in the 82nd minute.
As the hosts began to push forward, Al Ahed countered and found Erwin once again who carried the ball into the penalty box and scored his third AFC Cup goal.
Al Nahda weren’t finished just yet. Walter Bwalya scrambled home from close range in the 90th minute to bring the game back to 2-2.