FT| And, there is the full-time whistle. India played wonderfully in the first half but they lost their guard in the last fifteen minutes of the game. Al-Mandhar Al-Alawi's brace makes all the difference here as Sunil Chhetri's first-half strike got cancelled out. Here is Abhishek Kundu saying good bye to you. Do follow Sportskeeda's Indian Football section to get the latest updates on India's World Cup Qualifying campaign, ISL, and I-League.
89' GOAL! And, that is 1-2 for Oman. They have come down from a goal down and buried India's spirits in Guwahati.
Al-Mandhar with a stunning shot from the left wing and no chance for Gurpreet. Rahul Bheke made a blunder in committing his body front. He drops his shoulder to bamboozle Adil Khan and they are out from the game here.
86' BLOCK! Man, Oman's substitute #19 Al Ghafri is one-on-one with Gurpreet but Sandesh Jhingan comes from behind and lunges in a sliding tackle to block his shot. How was that not 1-2 in Oman's favor?
84' CHANCE! And, India miss a golden chance to make it 2-1.
Sunil goes to the byline and gives a backpass to Manvir on the counter. He gives a low cross in the hope to find Chhangte but he is a millisecond late to bury it in the empty net.
78' CHANCE! Man, that could have been easily been 2-0 for India. Oman's defender heads it backwards for the 'keeper but it looks like Sunil Chhetri will get there first. However, Oman's 'keeper flies like a Superman and punches it away with one hand.
72' Shades of India-Bahrain happening here. Oman are just boomeranging their attacks and find themselves in the attacking third continuously. Gurpreet palms away the danger but an Oman striker was lurking just behind. Rahul Bheke gets in the last minute to avert the danger.
67' India get lucky again. Oman's #15 Al Mandhar is through one-on-one in the left wing and takes a shot. Gurpreet is in no mood to give away his clean sheet and makes a save. The assistant raises his flag nonetheless but the replays tell it was not offside.
66' Oman with a swinging corner but Gurpreet rises tallest and collects it comfortably to break on the counter. He gives it to Sunil Chhetri, who gives a through ball for Lallianzuala Chhangte. The Mizo winger takes the ball on his weak foot and produces a feeble shot, collected comfortably on the opposite end.
63' Rowllin Borges tries his luck from distance. He is not known for that and the ball balloons away for a goal kick. The Mumbai City FC player apologises to all of Guwahati now.
55' SAVE! Gurpreet Singh Sandhu makes another wonderful save here. Moreover, he even held on to it. A diagonal ball from the left wing and Oman's Ahmed Kano heads it goalbound. But, one man stops the ball from crossing the line. That is Gurpreet Singh Sandhu for you, ladies and gentlemen.
54' SAVE! Man, that was almost an own goal from Anirudh Thapa. Oman's #20 Al Ghalami whips in a low cross. Thapa instead of clearing it sideways shoots straight on to Gurpreet's path but GSS tips it away.
51' Anirudh Thapa wins the ball in a dangerous situation and tees it up for Udanta Singh. But, the 23-year-old gets his legs tangled and loses the ball.
48' Oman are pushing more bodies forward but India also going full-throttle on the back. They have won two corners in three minutes. But, both are wasteful.
The fans are waiting anxiously for the second half to begin. Rowllin Borges is the unsung hero of the game. Winning every second ball and breaking Oman's attacks. We do not appreciate the man much but he is the real deal here.
Halftime thoughts: Oman is trying to exploit the wings and lob diagonals and crosses to head home. It worked against Yemen in an international friendly but apart from two occasions, one where they won a free-kick and the other where Ahmed Kano got a head to the ball inside the six-yard box, it hasn't worked wonders.
For India, Ashique Kuruniyan is the most lively player. Unlucky not to get a goal or assist. His long strides are doing wonders. It was pathetic defending from Oman, who let in a training ground free-kick, with no barrier.
India looked as if the better side for the first 25 minutes till they got a goal but after that it is even-steven. Let's wait for the second half and see what happens.
HT| PEEP! PEEP! It is India 1-0 Oman at the stroke of halftime. Great first 45 minutes from India who are leading courtesy of Sunil Chhetri's strike. India cannot be overconfident here. They were 2-0 up against Tajikistan but lost 2-4. Let's hope the boys remember that.
43' SAVE! And, Gurpreet comes into the picture. We don't call him the Great Wall of India for no reason. Ahmed Kano sneaks between Rahul Bheke and Sandesh Jhingan to connect a long diagonal from the right wing. But, Gurpreet positioned himself perfectly to palm away the shot from hand-shaking distance. The pressure is starting to mount on India now. They would want the half-time whistle as soon as possible.
38' Oman are conceding away very cheap fouls. Lucky for them it is all happening in India's half. Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose absolutely like a rock. No one has been able to get past them.
36' Gurpreet Singh comes out of his line to intercept the danger. Oman's #9 Abdulaziz Al Maqbali is through on goal and that could have been easily 1-1. Good sense of awareness from Gurpreet.
34' Another interesting observation from India's play. Head coach Igor Stimac said it before his arrival that India needs to better themselves in their reaction to the second ball. Well, so far they have won almost every single bit of it.
32' Oman are clueless in the final third, to be honest. They are lobbing aerial balls but no one is reacting to it. And, our full backs Rahul Bheke and Subhasish Bose have been extremely sturdy.
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