2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: India 1-2 Oman, 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

#2 Oman leave it late to spoil the party

Al Mandhar Al Alawi proved to be the villain for India as his brace in the last ten minutes took the game away from India's hands

One major disadvantage of the style adopted by Stephen Constantine was that the midfielders got tired as the full-time whistle neared. It is understandable as they have to help their defenders and at the same time watch out for space on the counter.

In the game against Oman, Rowllin Borges and Anirudh Thapa's legs gave up after the hour mark as they failed to withstand the intensity for the entirety of the match. Oman capitalized on that and it always looked as if the equalizer was coming.

Just like the AFC Asian Cup game against Bahrain, the ball was always in India's half as Oman showed no mercy while attacking. They were slightly wasteful in the final third and India can consider themselves lucky to not concede any till the 80th minute.

In the 82nd minute, India got finally punished as Al Mandhar lobbed the ball above Gurpreet's reach after meeting out a through ball that set him free. In the final minute of regulation time, he completed his brace when he slammed the ball after making a dash on the left-wing.

While India knows the mistakes which cost them the game and should work on it, they leave us with a bigger question.