Al Sadd blazed their way to a record 14th Qatar league title and their first in six seasons, after thumping Al Ahli 7-2 in front of raucous home fans yesterday. The Wolves had a four-point advantage over defending champions Al Duhail going into match and they wrapped up the title, their 69th across all competitions, with a match to spare after the emphatic victory.
Striker Baghdad Bounedjah scored his seventh hat-trick of the season, Hassan al-Haydous bagged a brace and Akram Afif and Jung Woo-Young found the net once apiece. It was sweet revenge for Jesualdo Ferreira’s men, whose only loss this season had been to Al Ahli in the first phase.
And they did so in their typical fashion, smashing seven goals, which took their total tally for the season to 94 from 21 matches. Astonishingly they averaged 4.5 goals per game and were clearly the deserving winners of the Falcon shield.
Ironically, Sadd’s victory didn’t matter much in the end as even a defeat would have given them the title after Duhail were stunned by bottom-placed Al Kharaitiyat 0-1 yesterday. For the record, Al Sadd have 54 points while Duhail are on 47 with just one match to go.
Al Ahli knew they were up for a long night, when Bounedjah opened the scoring in the sixth minute. The Algerian forward was brought down by Ahli goalkeeper Evanildo Santos in the box and that resulted in a penalty, which Bounedjah duly converted.
Captain Xavi Hernandez ran the show from the midfield along with his Spanish compatriot Gabi, who joined Sadd from Atletico Madrid ahead of the season. And the two midfielders have played a key role in Sadd’s ascension to the throne.
Xavi had a couple of chances to get into scoresheet but failed to hit the target from close range. But the former Barcelona star played a key hand in Al Sadd increasing the lead in the 24th minute when he delivered a trademark through pass to al-Haydous, who beat Santos with his second try after his first shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.
Bounedjah then added a third in the injury time of the first half, with a marvellous goal. After received a pass from al-Haydous, the 27-year old skipped past crowded Ahli players in the box and then beat a hapless Santos.
Al Sadd returned to the pitch for the second half with the same intensity and Akram Afif scored their fourth goal in the 53rd minute after some brilliant dribbling. But with Xavi making way for Ali Asad, Ahli took advantage in the 71st minute through De Jong. But Sadd restored the lead four minutes later, after the marauding Bounedjah was once again fouled in the box. And this time it was al-Haydous who slotted the ball in as Sadd lead 5-1.
In the 78th minute, Al-Ahli striker Abdulrashid Ibrahim scored Al-Ahli’s second. Just a couple of minutes later, Bounedjah completed his hat-trick and his 39th goal of the season with a fierce shot from the edge of the box. In the final minute of added time, Jung Woo-young curled a low free-kick around the wall and past the Al Ahli keeper to complete a commanding win, a fitting way to seal the title. Meanwhile, Duhail crashed to humiliating a loss to Al Kharaitiyat at the Al Ahli Stadium. Mohamed Salam scored the only goal in the 77th minute.
The game was very much a low-key affair, with Kharaitiyat looking to starve a nervous Duhail of their favourite possession-based football and thus offering a chance to the home team to sneak a surprise victory.