There seems to be no stopping Al Duhail as they revelled in yet another goal fest in the QNB Stars League yesterday.
At the receiving end of their relentless march towards the title were Umm Salal, who were blown away Djamel Belmadi’s men as they maintained their unbeaten run in 16 matches.
The match was effectively over in 15 minutes when Duhail pumped in four goals, captain Youssef Msakni completing the rout with a fifth in the 59th minute, his second on the day.
Luis Martin’s fifth minute effort saw Duhail take the lead with South Korean Nam Tae-hee (10th and 14th) and Msakni (14th) leaving Umm Salal shell-shocked.
Al Duhail enjoyed 64% possession, which made it pretty much impossible for Umm Salal to conjure up an upset.
Al Duhail are now on 45 points as they inched closer to the league title and Umm Salal on 24.
Msakni moved to 18 goals and Nam 10 in the 2017-18 QNB Stars League top scorers’ chart.
Al Duhail had rested key players such as their top scorer Youssef El Arabi and midfielder Karim Boudiaf in view of their AFC Champions League fixture against UAE’s Al Wahda on February 19. They had started their Group B campaign on a winning note by beating Iran’s Zobahan 3-1 at home three days earlier.
As a result, many reserve players got to play. The Red Knights were still at their menacing best and midfielder Luis Martin, back from an injury lay-off, started the goal glut. Such was their domination that Umm Salal, without suspended Tunisian midfielder Oussama Darragi, initially had no clue as to what was happening.
The Orange Fortress created a chance only after 25 minutes only to see striker Yannick Sagbo send a free-kick over the bar.
Msakni added another around the hour mark as Umm Salal, who had scored a come-from-behind win over Al Khor in the previous round under new coach Talal El Karkouri, could not do much other than another free-kick by Sagbo late in the game that was parried by goalkeeper Amine Lecomte.
Duhail captain Youssef Msakni is congratulated by Almoez Ali.
