Al Sadd earned a rare distinction of finishing the QNB Stars League season unbeaten after a 3-0 win over Qatar SC at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Friday. Xavi Hernandez’s men, who had wrapped up the title long ago, finished with 60 points from 19 victories and three draws.
Meanwhile, defeats for Qatar SC and Al Ahli ensured Al Rayyan finished third, with Al Gharafa needing to defeat Umm Salal today to finish fourth. Al Ahli were thrashed by Al Duhail 0-4.
On Friday, Xavi rested several regulars with AFC Champions League in mind but still had enough to see off a full-strength Qatar SC side. Abdelkarim Hassan gave Al Sadd the lead as early as the third minute. Rodrigo Tabata doubled the advantage with a penalty kick in the 39th minute and Yousef Abdulrazaq rounded off the tally in the 76th minute.
Xavi praised his side’s performance against Qatar SC and was delighted to end the season with an undefeated record. “Today’s performance against Qatar SC was more than excellent, from all the players. I’m happy with the result, the win, and not losing throughout the league season,” the Spaniard said.
“I thank the players, the support staff, the medical staff and the management of the club, for everyone’s efforts throughout the season. We won the league without losing and we had the best attack and the best defence. Also, the league’s top scorer is our striker, Baghdad Bounedjah. It’s a great situation to be in, and the atmosphere is wonderful inside the team. Even the U-23 team has won the league title. We must take advantage of this period that we are going through, in the upcoming competitions,” he added.
Xavi, the former Barcelona and Spain midfielder, previously won the title with Al Sadd as a player in 2018-19 before taking over the reins as manager. Al Sadd have little time to celebrate, however, with the club kicking off its AFC Champions League group campaign next week in Riyadh, one of four central hubs for the continental tournament.
As for the Wolves’ preparations for the AFC Champions League matches, Xavi said: “The toughest tournament awaits us. We are in an excellent period and fully ready to compete. Everyone’s technical and physical condition is great; only Akram Afif is missing because of injury.”
Al Sadd started with their routine aggression and a move by Abdelkarim Hassan and Tabata led to an own goal, early in the match. Hassan, after reaching close to the goal, chipped the ball back past Qatar SC goalkeeper Jassim al-Hail from the left and Khaled Mahmoudi accidentally struck it to his own goal.
Hashem Ali set up Al Sadd’s second goal by winning a penalty kick after racing into Qatar SC’s box with a stunning display, before Qatar SC’s Mohamed Salem stopped him near the goal with a rash tackle.
Referee Meshari Ali al-Shamari immediately signalled a spot kick and Tabata struck Al Sadd’s second goal with a confident low drive in the centre, with al-Hail diving on his left. Qatar SC won a couple of free-kicks at the start of final session, but could not pose danger to Al Sadd’s goal in the presence of keeper Saad al-Dossari.
Later, an impressive shot from a distance by Al Sadd’s Eisa was well-saved by the goalkeeper by diving on his left, before he thwarted Ali Asad’s fabulous try in the 55th minute. In the 63rd minute, striker Baghdad Bounedjah, along with Ahmed Suhail and Bahaa Ellethy, came off the bench.
Qatar SC were rarely surging in counter-attacks and they were barely able to pose any danger, losing the ball easily after reaching close to the area as Al Sadd were solid in defence too. Al Sadd fired their third goal through Abdulrazaq, who hit the ball in al-Hail’s left corner following an assist by Ali Asad.
A goal by Qatar SC following a corner kick, 12 minutes before time was ruled out after Anthony Okpotu was declared offside. Bounedjah made an attempt for his first goal of the match a few minutes later, but al-Hail deflected his shot on target.
At the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium, Dudu and Michael Olunga scored a brace each as Al Duhail eased past Al Ahli to finish their campaign with 47 points, 13 less than new champions Al Sadd.
Al Ahli made many forays initially, but it was Al Duhail who scored off their first real chance as Dudu headed in Ismail Mohamed’s cross from the right flank.
Al Ahli’s closest chance in the first half was when Nasser Saleh’s bicycle kick went narrowly wide. Al Ahli resumed after the break with a surge and captain Omid Ebrahimi hit a long-ranger wide.
Al Duhail then made a couple of substitutions, with Luis Martin coming in for Ismail Mohamed and Jassim al-Mehairi replacing Sultan al-Breik. However, Olunga soon made it 2-0 and added another, which was his team’s third goal, as Al Ahli ran out of steam. Dudu rounded off the tally as the game drew towards a close and Al Duhail sealed yet another victory.
In a late match, Al Rayyan drew with Al Khor 1-1, a stalemate which did not have any bearing. Rayyan had sealed the third sport, while Al Khor need to win the play-off to stay in the top flight.
Rayyan took lead through defender Franck Kom in the 44th minute, but Said Mohamed Brahmi converted a penalty in the 76th minute as Al Khor shared the spoils.
Al Sadd players celebrate after their win over Qatar SC at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.
