Gulf Times
Baghdad Bounedjah and Akram Afif hit hat tricks as Al Sadd hammered Al Gharafa 8-1 to post their 10th victory in the QNB Stars League yesterday.
Hassan al-Haydous (63rd
minute) and substitute Hassan
Ahmed (86th) also joined
the party as Portuguese coach
Jesualdo Ferreira walked off the
Al Gharafa Stadium pitch with a
huge smile.
For Al Gharafa, who missed
the services of Dutch star Wesley
Sneijder, Mehdi Taremi reduced
the defi cit in the 52nd
minute.
Al Sadd’s emphatic victory
gave them 32 points from 13
matches, but more importantly
helped them close the gap on Al
Duhail (35), who drew 2-2 with
Al Rayyan in yesterday’s second
high-profi le encounter.
Al Duhail remain the only unbeaten
team in the tournament
but yesterday’s draw means
they lead Al Sadd by only three
points, giving the Wolves much
encouragement as the tournament
progresses.
For Al Sadd, Bounedjah
scored in the 19th, 28th and
45+3 minutes (penalty). Akram
was on target in the 25th, 40th
and 57th minutes (penalty).
Al Sadd grabbed the opening
goal thanks to a good finish
by Bounedjah. The Algerian
striker exhibited incredible pace
to hoodwink his marker Ilyas
Ahmad after receiving a loopy
cross from the midfield. Once
he moved into the Al Gharafa
box, Bounedjah found one of the
narrowest angles to shoot the
ball past keeper Ali for his 24th
strike this season.
Akram doubled Al Sadd’s
lead from close range, flicking
the ball into the net with a
right-footed shot. Three minutes
later, Al Haydous slipped
in a neat cross from the flank
and Bounedjah defl ected the ball
into the lead as Al Sadd went 3-0
up.
Akram showed amazing speed
with the ball and despite being
hotly chased by an Al Gharafa
player he calmly slotted the ball
past keeper Yousef Hassan for Al
Sadd’s fourth goal.
In injury time, Al Gharafa’s
Yousuf Muftah was shown a yellow
card for a rough tackle on
Akram in the Al Gharafa box.
Seconds later, Bounedjah
converted the resultant penalty
from the needless tackle on
Akram.
Taremi converted a penalty
to reduce the defi cit in the 52nd
minute.
Akram completed his hattrick
when he scored Al Sadd’s
sixth goal off a penalty kick.
Al Haydous then made it 7-1
for Al Sadd after defl ecting a neat
cross from Bounedjah into the net.
Substitute Ahmed too found the
net as Al Sadd closed the match.
Meanwhile, Al Duhail and Al
Rayyan played out a 2-2 draw in a
high-voltage clash.
Interestingly, both teams were
locked in a goalless draw in the
fi rst leg.
Star Moroccan striker Yousef El
Arabi scored both goals for A Duhail
in the 20th and 52nd minutes,
while Brazilian forward Lucca
Borges netted The Lions’ consolation
goal in the 41st minute.
Al Duhail were done in by an
own goal scored by their defender
Mohamed Mousa in the 83rd
minute.
Al Duhail, without injured
South Korean midfi elder Nam
Tae-Hee, called the shots from
the word go. They took the halftime
break with 62 per cent of ball
possession even though the teams
were tied 1-1.
El Arabi opened the scoring by
placing home a cross from the
right by Brazilian winger Paolo
Edmilson.
Al Rayyan equalised when
Lucca slotted home after receiving
a through pass from Rodrigo
Tabata, to the dismay of Al Duhail
defenders who were caught off -
guard for a moment.
The scoreline would have
swelled had it not been for the
alertness of Al Rayyan goalkeeper
Fahad Younes, who thwarted attempts
by El Arabi and Edmilson
in the fi rst half.
Edmilson came close for one
more time, but cracked his shot
against the horizontal.
Al Rayyan started the second
session by fi elding Sebastian Soria,
who recovered from an injury,
in place of Mowafaq Awad.
However, it was Al Duhail who
scored again. The script for the
goal was the same. Edmilson
sent in a measured cross from
the right and El Arabi was bang