Al Duhail handed Al Markhiya an 8-3 defeat in the first round match of Group B of the Ooredoo Cup at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium on Tuesday.
The Red Knights rode on a hat-trick from their Kenyan striker Michael Olunga as they steamrolled their rivals with as many as seven of the total eleven goals coming in the second half of the match. The goals for Duhail came from Ahmad Moein (8th minute), Suhaib Gannan (15’), Lotfi Madjer (19’), Michael Olunga (21’, 74’, 78’), Ahmed Ibrahim 82’ (OG), and Rabeh Yahia Boussafi (88’). For Markhiya, Youssef Ramadan (48th minute), Mohamed al-Hassan (81’), and Farid Ahmed al-Marhoobi (90’) found the target.
The rollick action for Duhail began with Ahmad Moein making good of a Suhaib Gannan pass to break in and score. Next up Gannan himself scored after being provided with a fine pass by Lotfi Majder while running into the box.
The third goal was another super combine between the two players. This time Majder made a precise cross from the right and a swift Gannan made a reverse kick while in front of the goal. Majder did more, he produced a fine kick from near the goalline for an onrushing Olunga to register the team’s fourth and his first goal.
Back after the break, Markhiya found some relief with Ramadan making a good header to score off a high flying corner kick. But soon Olunga returned to latch on to a Nam Tae-Hee pass and his stretched left leg did enough for the ball to find the far right corner of the net.
Olunga’s hat-trick goal came following the good work of Rabeh Boussafi who grabbed a Markhiya miss-pass and fed a waiting Olunga with the ball which he lobbed into the goal.
Markhiya pulled a second one back with Mohamed al-Hassan battling for the ball with Youssef Farahat. While Farahat felt that the ball had fell over the line, alert al-Hassan snatched the chance to win the ball, move to his right and send it into the goal.
But Markhiya’s woes continued with Ahmed Ibrahim finding his own net while trying to stave off an Duhail cross to the centre inside the box. Rabeh Boussafi provided the icing on the cake for Duhail with a final strike from top of the box. In the fourth week clash of the QNB Stars league between these two teams, Duhail had won by a solitary goal from their Korean star Nam Tae-Hee.