Al-Hussein reveals reasons for Al-Taawoun's decline against Al-Nahda

Al-Taawoun drew with Al-Nahda 1-1 in the match that took place on Wednesday evening at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, as part of the first round of Group C in the AFC Champions League.

Al-Taawoun took the lead through Rakan Al-Tulayhi in the 60th minute, after he unleashed a powerful shot with his left foot from outside the penalty area, before Petros Bummell equalized for Al-Nahda with a header in the 81st minute.

The draw leaves both teams with one point, with Al-Nahda of Oman topping Group C on goal difference, while Al-Taawun sits in second place at the start of their continental journey.

Al-Taawoun missed several chances during the match, most notably a shot from Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi in the 33rd minute. Then, Mohammed Al-Aqel found himself one-on-one with the Al-Nahda goalkeeper in the 54th minute, but he shot the ball wide of the goal.

Al-Taawoun made two substitutions at the start of the second half, bringing on Rakan Al-Tulayhi and Mohammed Al-Aqel for Saif Rajab and Nadim Bayrami. Meanwhile, Saif Rajab received a yellow card in the 40th minute.

Jihad Al-Hussein, the coach of Al-Taawoun, explained that his team faced difficult circumstances during the match, noting that the performance improved significantly after the break, despite not achieving the desired result.

Al-Hussein's coach said in the press conference: "Losing points was difficult, but we performed better in the second half, and we didn't make many changes to the lineup."

The Al-Taawoun coach added: "I took charge of the team for this match only, and the players tried to give their all to achieve a positive result, and the weather conditions made the task difficult."

Al-Hussein discussed the absence of Abderrazak Hamdallah, confirming that Mohammed Al-Bahrawi primarily plays as a winger, but the circumstances of the match led him to rely on him as a central striker.

He pointed to the use of Mohammed Al-Aqel in this position as well, benefiting from his physical capabilities, given the absences and the limited options available to the coaching staff.

Al-Hussein has admitted his dissatisfaction with Al-Taawoun's handling of set pieces, explaining that the lack of time did not allow for sufficient work on them. He emphasized the possibility of the team performing better in the future.

With this result, Al-Taawoun began their journey in the AFC Champions League with one point after squandering their lead against Al-Nahda, who managed to equalize nine minutes before the end of the match.