Edmilson Junior scored four times, while Dudu bagged a hat-trick as reigning champions Al Duhail thrashed Al Wakrah 8-1 in the QNB Stars League yesterday. A day after leaders Al Sadd routed Al Sailiya 8-0, Duhail were in their own devastating form at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Duhail star Edmilson was once again in the thick of action as the Brazilian forward scored in the second, 10th, 16th and 19th minutes. Dudu’s hat-trick came in the third, ninth and 71st-minute penalty, while Almoez Ali also found net in the 70th minute. The Red Knights moved on to 27 points after their ninth victory, but are still eight points behind Al Sadd. 
Mohamed Benyettou scored the only goal for Al Wakrah in the 45th minute as The Blue Wave remained on 13 points after suffering their eighth defeat.
Al Duhail are very much on the recovery path following a slump in form that saw them occupy a place outside the top four. The Red Knights have now won their last five matches and stay in the race to retain the coveted league shield. 
Al Duhail reaped the rewards of having begun the game in excellent fashion. Sabri Lamouchi’s men were up by four goals inside 10 minutes and they built on the brilliant start to script a big-margin victory. Al Duhail dominated their rivals right throughout and Benyettou’s goal was the only reply they could give to their marauding opponents. It may be recalled that Al Wakrah had beaten Al Duhail 1-0 in the first leg of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League.
In another match, Mohamed Salah El Neel netted the winner as Al Arabi continued their excellent form by defeating Al Ahli 1-0. El Neel strike came in the 20th minute as Al Arabi, coached by Heimir Hallgrimsson, registered their fourth successive victory. The Dream Team stayed seventh with 18 points, just one behind Al Rayyan, while Al Ahli slipped from fourth to fifth with 22 points.
Al Arabi thus extended their brilliant run starting from their good performance at the 2019-20 season Amir Cup final, which they narrowly lost to Al Sadd. Nebojsa Jovovic-coached Al Ahli, who led the table initially this season, have their task cut out in their bid to end up among the top four.
The first part of first half saw attempts by Al Arabi’s Aron Gunnarsson as well as Sebastian Soria and Al Ahli’s Nabil El Zhar. The only goal came through a move originated from Marc Muniesa in the midfield. He passed the ball to Mehrdad Mohammadi who, in turn, played Ahmed Fathy on before El Neel applied the finishing touch.
Al Ahli made a couple of substitutions at the start of second half even as Al Arabi adopted a cautious approach to safeguard the lead. The Al Arabi defence, manned mainly by Algerian Ayoub Azzy, kept a clean sheet as they recorded yet another victory. Al Ahli had beaten Al Arabi 2-0 in the first leg of 2020-21 season QNB Stars League.
Elsewhere, Umm Salal defeated Al Khor 1-0 with Kayke Rodriguez scoring the all-important goal by converting a penalty in the 14th minute. Umm Salal scripted their third victory and are on 13 points. The Orange Fortress are thus back on the winning path after suffering their first defeat in five games when they lost 0-1 to holders Al Duhail in Week 12.
Al Khor are now precariously placed in the 11th position, staring very much at relegation, with seven points, just one point more than bottom-placed Al Kharaitiyat. It was The Knights’ eighth defeat.
Referee Abdulrahman al-Jassim awarded the penalty after Umm Salal’s Ahmed Hammoudan was fouled by Al Khor defender Elnagi Elsadiq and prolific scorer Kayke, who switched from Qatar SC to Umm Salal recently, was bang on target from the spot.
Al Khor tried hard for an equaliser and made several attempts at the goal, but found Umm Salal goalkeeper Baba Malick a tough nut to crack on more occasions than one.
Ismail Elhaddad came the closest to scoring in the 32nd minute. On to the second half, Al Khor goalkeeper Baba Djibril thwarted Hammoudan and Ismail again made attempts in the 56th and 60th minutes, but Umm Salal held fort to register a crucial victory.