Al Sadd and Al Duhail flexed their muscles Sunday with both the title contenders registering huge victories in the QNB Stars League.
Reigning champions Al Sadd routed Al Shamal 7-2 at the Khalifa International Stadium, with Xavi Hernandez’s men scoring three goals in the first half and adding four more in the second half.
Ali Asad (10th minute), Baghdad Bounedjah (13th and 89th minutes), Andre Ayew (15th minute), Yousef Abdulrazaq (57th minute) and Rodrigo Tabata (85th minute) scored the goals for Al Sadd, who were also helped by Al Shamal’s Matias Nani’s own goal in the 54th minute. Mohsen al-Yazidi (12th minute) and Khalifa Saad (87th minute) gave Al Shamal’s reply.
Al Sadd raised their points to 12 with an all-win record, the same as Al Duhail who beat Al Sailiya 5-0 earlier in the day. Promoted side Al Shamal stood on three points that they collected from their 2-1 victory over Qatar SC in Week 3.
Earlier, Kenyan forward Michael Olunga scored all five goals as Al Duhail hammered Al Sailiya 5-0. It was all about Olunga as the Kenyan star wreaked havoc in the second half, smashing goals in 56th, 62nd, 68th, 79th and 85th minutes of the match after a goalless first half. Olunga scored his opener after an assist by Almoez with a powerful shot to the left of keeper Claud Amine.
Six minutes later, Olunga – after being picked up with a clever long ball by Ferjani Sassi – charged ahead of two Al Sailiya defenders, headed the ball past the charging keeper and then clipped the ball into an open net from close range. It was a spectacular charge by Olunga who lifted his team with his second goal of the match with breathtaking speed.
A few minutes later, the Kenyan completed his hat-trick when he tapped a low cross by Mohammed Alaaeldin from close range, sending the ball into the net with ease.
Then, Olunga deflected a ball into an open net after a shot by Almoez from close range was blocked by the goalkeeper. The ball landed at Olunga’s feet and he wasted no time in scoring his fourth goal of the match. A 1-2 by Almoez and Olunga helped the Kenyan striker score his fifth of the evening.
Meanwhile, at the Al Arabi Stadium yesterday, Mehrdad Mohammadi’s goal from a spotkick in 41st minute and a strike from Aaron Boupendza in 50th minute powered hosts Al Arabi to a 2-0 win over Qatar SC. Al Arabi notched up their third win of the season to climb to third in the table. Qatar SC remained on one point.
Al Arabi grabbed the lead through a penalty well-executed by Mehrdad. It was awarded when he was brought down by Qatar SC’s Eisa Ahmed.
Early in the second half, Tunisian forward Yousef Msakni dribbled his way past three Qatar SC players, but his cross from close range was misread by team-mate Boupendza who was slow to react with only keeper Jassim Al Hail to beat.
Barely a minute later, Boupendza curled in spectacularly a free-kick from outside the box. The ball sailed above the Qatar SC wall and crashed into the net with Al Hail rooted to his spot.
In one of the easiest of misses, Qatar SC’s Javier Martinez, with time and space, misfired his shot just a few feet away from the Al Arabi goal.