Free-flowing Sadd put five goals past Al Rayyan defence

Al Sadd produced an attacking masterclass to defeat reigning QSL champions Al Rayyan 5-0 in the Qatar Clasico yesterday evening. Sadd opened the scoring towards the end of the first half and added a further four in the second half to pile the misery on Al Rayyan.
The tie also saw Algerian striker Bagdad Bounedjah score a hat-trick to confirm his status as the league’s top scorer.
Typically, the Clasico started at breakneck speed with Al Rayyan having an early chance to open the scoring. Unfortunately, Abulrahman al-Harazi couldn’t get the ball out of his feet in time with just one minute on the clock. The hosts Al Rayyan dominated the ball in the early exchanges but lacked that cutting edge despite their flare in the final third.
Sadd registered their first chance of note after 23 minutes of the game. Bounedjah held the ball up well before laying off his shot to compatriot Jurgitha Hamroun. However, the winger’s sliced effort flew way over the Rayyan crossbar.
The tie opened midway through the first half and the side exchanged chances. On the 25th minute, Rodrigo Tabata produced a textbook freekick, which was comfortably saved following Sergio Garcia being bundled down just outside the box. Sadd also could have opened the scoring soon. A Hamroun cross was flicked on by Bounedjah to Hassan Haydoos and his acrobatic strike was easily caught by Rayyan keeper Omar Barry.
With five minutes to go in the first half, Al Sadd where awarded a penalty. A fierce strike from Xavi was adjudged to have hit Daniel Gomu on the arm and the referee wasted no time in pointing to the penalty spot. Al Sadd’s leading scorer Bounedjah was the calmest man in the stadium and coolly slotted the ball into the back of the net to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead.
Al Sadd made a dream start to the second half and promptly doubled their lead. A fine solo run from Jugurtha Hamroun saw the Algerian race up the left hard side. His cross found Bounedjah, who tapped in from close range for his second of the game and twelfth of the season.
Willed on by the typically boisterous Qatar Clasico crowd, Al Sadd killed off the game thanks to a top class free kick from captain Xavi. Bounedjah was fouled just outside the box, Xavi primed himself for the strike and curled the ball into the top corner registering his fourth goal in as many QSL games.
Al Sadd added a fourth goal to confirm their dominance on the 65th minute. Al Sadd were moving the ball with intent in the final third. Wolves captain Xavi picked out man of the match contender Hamroun, who gracefully chipped the ball past Omar Barry much to the joy of his teammates.
Al Sadd were at their free-flowing best and Bounedjah grabbed a hat-trick and his side’s fifth of the night against an Al Rayyan side bereft of ideas in defence. Pedro Corriea knocked the ball up to the Algerian, who smashed the ball in to the top right hand corner to confirm the rout.