Al Sadd players celebrate after winning the QNB stars League Round 2 match by a 5-1 margin against Al Sailiya, yesterday.
Former champions Al Sadd yesterday claimed their second big win in the new QNB Stars League (QSL) season, after defeating Al Sailiya 5-1 in their Round 2 match yesterday.
At the Education City Stadium, captain Hassan Al Haydos, Santi Cazorla, Baghdad Bounedjah, Nam Tae-hee and Substitute Ahmed Bader Sayyar scored for the 14-time QSL champions. Magdi Siddiq scored the sole goal for Al Sailiya.
“All the players were excellent. The first 25 minutes were wonderful and we could have killed the match off. We suffered a little after they scored the first goal, but we came back in control again at the beginning of the second half, and we were much better than Al Sailiya at everything,” coach Xavi Hernandez praised his team's dominant show after the match.
He added: “We are going through some beautiful moments, and I am happy, as the coach, with what we have achieved so far.” “For me, all the players are very important, and I have many options, despite playing today without Akram Afif.”
“Everyone in the team works hard and I am happy for all the players and what they have given during the two matches against Al Kharaitiyat and Al Sailiya,” the Barca great said.
Going into their last league game before the resumption of the Asian campaign, Al Sadd got off to a great start and pushed forward from the beginning. Al Haydos opened the scoring in the 7th minute, before the new signing Cazorla doubled Al Sadd’s lead from the penalty spot in the 30th minute.
Siddiq then reduced the deficit in the 41st minute. Algerian goal machine, Bounedjah restored Al Sadd’s two goal lead in the 59th minute, before Tae-hee made it 4-1 in the 81st minute. Sayyar then scored the fifth and final goal in the 87th minute. It didn’t take long for the opening goal to arrive, and it was Al Haydos who got it.
Cazorla sent an aerial ball over the defence and onto the right wing to find the Al Sadd captain, who got into the box and dinked the ball over the keeper with great skill. Cazorla then got on the scoresheet at the half-hour mark, dispatching a penalty, which was awarded after a foul by Ahmed Al Menhali on AlSadd’s Pedro Miguel.
In the 41st minute, Magdi Siddiq pulled a goal back for Al Sailiya, drilling in a powerful strike from outside the box following a corner. Al Sailiya improved after
that goal, and they were able to continue putting pressure on the Al Sadd defence after the halftime break as well. Their biggest opportunity came in the 51st minute, when Ahmed Hammoudan took a shot from just a few metres away from goal, but his shot was blocked twice. In the 59th minute, Bounedjah made it 3-1 to Al Sadd.
Receiving a through ball from Cazorla, the Algerian international took a step before finishing past Amine Lecomte. Xavi made his first substitution in the 73rd minute, bringing on Abdelkarim Hassan in place of Jung Woo-young, which meant Mohammed Waad moved to midfield, while Abdelkarim played as the left back.
This was followed by a double change four minutes later, as Yousuf Abdurisag and Musab Kheder came on to replace Al Haydos and Tarek Salman. Nam Tae-hee then managed to score Al Sadd’s fourth goal in the 81st minute, with a superb shot from outside the box which flew into the top corner. Sayyar came off the bench to score the fifth goal in the 87th minute, with a lob over the keeper after a pass from Rodrigo Tabata.
The result kept the Wolves at the top of the table with 6 points from two matches. Elsewhere, at the Al Gharafa Stadium, newly promoted Al Kharaitiyat beat Qatar SC 2-1, making a brilliant comeback after last weekend's 1-5 defeat against Xavi's side.
Mohammed Osman (20thminute penalty) scored for Al Kharaitiyat, who were helped by an own goal by Qatar SC’s Kayke Rodriguez in the 50th minute. Elmehdi Barrahma scored Qatar SC’s goal in the 75th minute.
Later, at the same venue, Al Rayyan achieved their first win in the season when they outplayed Al Gharafa 3-1 with the help of a brilliant double by Yohan Boli. The Ivorian scored in the 25th and 71st minutes as Yacine Brahimiin finished off with another goal just before the final whistle (90+3).
Al Gharafa's only goal was scored by Jonathan Kodjia in the 90th minute. The victory lifted Al Rayyan's points tally to 4 while Al Gharafa's total, thanks to their win in the first round, remained at 3.
