Palestine, in red, vs. Oman at Faisal Husseini Stadium near Jerusalem. Palestine won 2-1. (photo courtesy of the Palestinian Football Association)  

JERUSALEM, June 14, 2017 (WAFA) – With a 2-1 win over Oman in a football game played on Tuesday in front of 12,000 spectators at Faisal Husseini Stadium, north of Jerusalem, and with two wins so far, Palestine ranked first in its group with six points in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers.

Oman is second with three points following its defeat, and the Maldives, which lost to Palestine 3-0 in their opening game in March, also has three points. Bhutan is last with zero points.

Johnathan Zorrilla scored the first goal for Palestine after 14 minutes of the game. Seven minutes later, Yaser Islami scored the second goal for the Palestinian team.

Oman scored its only goal shortly before the end of the first half.

The Palestinian team’s performance dropped in the second half, apparently due to fatigue, while the Omani team fought hard for 45 minutes to get the equalizer but to no avail.

The AFC Asian Cup games will be played in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

M.K.