Iran maintained its top of the table position after grinding out a hard-fought 1-1 draw against its main rival Oman  in 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying clash on Thursday. The match was played in difficult weather condition with high humidity restricting the players of both teams from giving their best.

The host created a host of chances at Sultan Qaboos stadium in the first half but the closest they came to breaking the deadlock was when Qasim Saeed shot wide from close range.

Team Melli also had opportunities of their own but none to seriously bother Ali Al Habsi who had a comfortable half commanding his area quite well.

Signs of defensive vulnerability in Team Melli came in the first half as Omani forwards outpaced their opponents. Jalal Hosseini and Pejman Montazeri were both caught out in several situations by the fast attacks and especially in transitions.

In the 52nd minute, this vulnerability soon translated into a goal for Oman as a blunder by Hosseini, Alireza Haghighi in the middle and a complete absence of covering by left back Ehsan Hajsafy, for Saad Suhaill to score an easy goal.

However , both the guilty parties in this goal conceded by Iran combined a few minutes later for Team Melli’s goal.

Hajsafy on the left flank ran with the ball all the way into the Oman box before sending a diagonal ball which Al Habsi could only fumble into Hosseini’s legs. The Center back had the easiest of the chances to slot it in for Iran’s equalizer.

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Both teams exchanged control of the match through the midfield. Iran suffered badly due to the weak performance of the trio Ebrahimi, Teymourian and Dejagah. The latter has one of his worst performances since he played for Team Melli. Teymourian defensive duties prevented him from being a force while Iran was on attack.

Up front Taremi and Azmoun did not click and found wanting in front of a strong and compact Omani defense.

However, the middle of the defense was perhaps the most worrying of all the three lines in which Queiroz needs to do some serious patching work.

Team Melli will have a chance to keep the lead when they meet Turkmenistan next. Before that, the Japan friendly will give Queiroz a perfect opportunity to try to solve some urgent issues with the tactics and personnel.