Feared striker Afif shines as Al Sadd crush Qatar SC 3-0

Akram Afif produced a hat-trick of goals as Doha giants Al Sadd bounced back to winning ways with a thumping 3-0 win over Qatar SC in Week 15 of the 2023-2024 Expo Stars League.
Afif scored a field goal in the 34th minute and the next two from penalties in the 44th and 45+7 minutes on home territory at Al Sadd Stadium.
The win took leaders Al Sadd’s tally to 35 points, while Qatar SC stood on 13 points, also from 14 matches.
Qatar SC, who had also suffered a loss to The Wolves in the first leg (1-3), had few answers against an attacking Al Sadd and while they did hold on well in the second session and also had a few raids at the opposite goal, they could not manage to score.
It took a little time at the start for Al Sadd to get going with Qatar SC putting up a good defence. In the 19th minute, Afif broke in from the left and beat defenders inside the box as well, but his shot failed to beat goalkeeper Sataa al-Abbasi who made a good save.
Five minutes later, there was a scare for Al Sadd as Qatar SC’s Sebastian Soria caught on to a long lob pass and dashed into the box, but his diagonal shot went past the outstretched left hand of goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb and just wide of the right post.
In the 29th minute, Afif was in a one-on-one situation inside the box, but his shot missed the target.
The deadlock was broken soon when Al Sadd’s Gonzalo Plata ran down the goalline, beating defenders before sending in a measured cross for Afif to coolly deflect it into the goal.
Qatar SC seemed a bit unlucky as 10 minutes later Ali Karami while trying to clear a ball just inside the box landed his foot on the stomach of an inrushing Hassan al-Haydous and the referee called for a penalty kick. Afif stepped up and doubled his team’s lead.
Qatar SC suffered more woes just before the half-time whistle when Ibrahim Abdulmajed made a slide in the danger area to cut off an advancing Afif. VAR check confirmed the referee’s decision for another spot kick and Afif scored again this time getting his 17th goal of the season.
After the break, Qatar SC showed a staunch defence, but their attempts to make a breakthrough into the rival den could not bear fruits. In the 63rd minute, Eisa Ahmad made a powerful kick at the goal, but goalkeeper al-Sheeb cut it off in time.
In the 89th minute, Qatar SC substitute Bruno Ramos had a similar, but a more threatening strike staved off by al-Sheeb who leapt high to punch the ball over the goal.
In a post-match interview, Wissam Rizk, coach of Al Sadd, congratulated his team on their convincing 3-0 victory against Qatar SC. He acknowledged the improvement his team is making and expressed his hope for continued success.
Rizk described the match as challenging, but highlighted Al-Zaeem’s dominance in the first half, which resulted in three goals. He praised his players’ fighting spirit and thanked the fans for their unwavering support. He said he looked forward to their continued encouragement in upcoming matches.
The Al Sadd coach said the challenge posed by Qatar SC despite their strong first half and three goals.
He acknowledged missed opportunities that could have further widened the score gap.
Al Gharafa back on winning path by beating Al DuhailAl Gharafa on Friday defeated Al Duhail 4-1 at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Yacine Brahimi netted a hat-trick (14th minute penalty, 55th minute and 82nd minutes), while Ferjani Sassi also got on the scoresheet in the 64th minute for Al Gharafa. Al Duhail’s lone goal came off the boot of Michael Olunga in the 20th minute.
The result moved Al Gharafa to 30 points, while Al Duhail remained on 18.
In the day’s last match at Al Thumama Stadium, Al Rayyan beat Al Arabi 3-2.