Al Sadd’s Bhagdad Bounedjah celebrates after scoring a goal.
DOHA: Star striker Baghdad Bounedjah scored four goals as Al Sadd notched up three more crucial points with a 5-0 victory over Al Ahli in their QNB Stars League (QSL) Round 18 clash yesterday
The Algerian scored in the fifth, 55th, 75th and 81st minutes of the game which was dominated by The Wolves, especially in the second session, in front of home crowd. Jugurtha Hamroun scored the other goal (90+2).
Al Sadd, who had won their first two matches in the AFC Champions League, started without some of their key players Xavi Hernandez, Hassan Al Haydous and Boualem Khoukhi. And Pedro sat out serving a suspension.
It is true that Algerian Bounedjah, who now has 12 goals to his credit in the QNB Stars League, gave Al Sadd an early advantage, but the game was slow-paced in the first half.
Akram Afif then had the disappointment of being thwarted by Al Ahli goalkeeper Yazan Naim.
Al Sadd started the second session by introducing Xavi, in place of Ali Asad, and Khoukhi for Yasir Abubakr.
Yassine Chikhaoui fought like a one-man army in the Al Ahli midfield. On the other hand, Xavi made some impact with his creative moves.
Bounedjah’s second goal came in training-session fashion as he flicked in the ball off a cross from Abdelkarim Hassan. Al Ahli, who were without Meshaal Abdullah, brought in striker Mohammed Muntari, back from a long injury layoff, soon after one hour, but The Brigadiers could not find the net for once.
Khoukhi almost made it 5-0, but cracked his rising shot against the horizontal. After Bounedjah added two more goals, Hamroun completed the tally with literally the last kick of the match.
Yesterday’s win took Al Sadd’s points tally to 46 points, two less than table toppers Al Duhail who had beaten Al Khor 4-0 on Saturday. Al Ahli remained on 19 points.
Later, riding on Abderrazaq Hamdallah’s two goals, Al Rayyan defeated hosts Qatar SC 4-0 yesterday.
Al Rayyan took their points tally to 39, while Qatar SC stayed on 18 points.
Hamdallah (25th and 37th minutes), Mohsine Moutouali (62nd) and Rodrigo Tabata (83rd) scored the goals.
The total number of goals netted by Hamdallah in this season’s QSL thus stands at 15.
