(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The 2018-19 His Majesty's Cup Football Championship summit clash will be a tussle between former champions. While one will be chasing a record tenth title, the other will be looking to bring back its fourth crown of the prestigious championship.
Nine-time champions Fanja will lock horns with three-time winners Sur in the final, to be held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on April 11 following the conclusion of the two-legged semifinals on Sunday.
In the late game, Sur was dominant in its 2-0 win over Majees in the second-leg in front of its home supporters at the Sur Sports Complex. The win followed Sur's 4-2 triumph in the first-leg as it advanced to the final on a 6-2 aggregate.
Earlier on Sunday, Fanja reached its 13th final with an authoritative 4-0 win over Mirbat in the second leg in Salalah. Fanja had won its home leg 3-2 to cruise into the title clash with a 7-2 aggregate.
Majees, which was making its HM's Cup semifinal debut, expected its experienced striker Hassan Rabee'a, to fire early as its rival went into the match with an upper hand, having slammed four away goals in the first-leg on March 6.
A dogged battle ensued between the two teams and Majees attempts for an early breakthrough was denied by a compact Sur defence.
Both the teams failed to break the deadlock till the interval with the hosts content to sit back and look for counter-attacks.
Soon after the half-time, the hosts, coached by Tunisian Zubair Mohammed, took the lead off a corner kick. A nice curling free-kick saw an unmarked Khalid Saleh head past a diving Majees goalkeeper in the 48th minute.
The goal was enough to break the morale of Majees players who then failed to raise the tempo of the match.
Sur completed a deserving victory with another goal five minutes before the final whistle. A quick move from the right flank saw striker Samba Tuncara head in a cross to send the home crowd into raptures.
While Fanja last won its ninth title in 2014, Sur's third crown came way back in 2008.
With the two teams sharing 12 titles in between them, the summit clash promises to be an exciting affair when they take on each other on April 11.
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