Al Duhail’s Yousef El Arabi celebrates after scoring a goal against Al Shahania at Al Duhail Stadium yesterday.
DOHA: Feared striker Yousef El Arabi fired a hat-trick as Al Duhail beat Al Shahania 5-1 in Week 12 of the QNB Stars League at the Al Duhail Stadium yesterday.
In other matches yesterday, Al Sadd crushed Al Kharaitiyat 7-1 after a brilliant hat-trick by Baghdad Bounedjah, while Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder scored a brace to lead Al Gharafa to a 2-0 win over Qatar SC at Qatar SC Stadium.
At Al Duhail Stadium, El Arabi scored two goals in the first half and another in the second as the defending champions roared to their 10th win of the season and consolidated their top position in the standings.
El Arabi (24th, 41st and 67th minutes) was well supported by Paulo Edmilson (46th) and Nam Tae-Hee (90+3) as The Red Knights eased to victory.
The losers’ only goal came from Ramin Semeskandi in the 87th minute when he converted a long-range free-kick that Al Duhail goalkeeper Khalifa Aboobacker failed to stop.
For his first goal, El Arabi flicked a low shot after a loopy ball that fell near him. The Moroccan fired the shot with his right foot as Al Duhail went 1-0 up.
Four minutes from the half-time whistle, El Arabi picked up a cross and charged into the Al Shahania box. Without wasting time, El Arabi fired one home as Al Shahania protested for off-side. But the calls were dismissed and goal was allowed.
Soon after resumption, Edmilson tapped an easy cross into the net for Al Duhail’s third goal. El Arabi completed his hat-trick in the 67th minute when he found the net from close range.
In the 87th minute, Ramin put his name on the scorers’ list when his shot went through the hands of the Al Duhail keeper.
Just before the final whistle, Nam scored his seventh goal of the season.
At Al Sadd Stadium, Bounedjah scored in the 17th, 46th and 87th minutes as hosts raced to a comfortable victory.
The Algerian striker was well supported by Hamid Ismail (28), Abdulkareem Hassan (37), Akram Afif (64) and Ahmad Sayyar (89) as the boys in white looked in little bother on home turf.
Mahmoud Saad reduced the deficit with a left-footed low drive in the 82nd minute for Al Kharaitiyat who have roped in former Al Sadd player Wisam Rizq as coach.
Al Sadd kicked of the proceedings by sporting specially designed jerseys that had pictures of Qatar national team player and an Al Sadd club stalwart Abdullah Obaid Juma who died three days ago.
Bounedjah yesterday scored the first goal on a fumble by Al Kharaitiyat keeper Ahmed Sofyan. Ismail slipped in a cross from the flank but instead of grabbing the ball keeper Sofyan let it slip out. Nounedjah easily fired home from close range.
Ismail doubled Al Sadd’s lead with a neat strike in the 27th minute. The home team saw Hassan complete the third goal - his second of the season - in the 37th minute from close range with a left-footed drive.
Bounedjah scored his second of the match and 18th of the season as Al Sadd raced to a 4-0 lead soon after resumption of play in the second half.
Qatar’s rising national team player Afif scored Al Sadd’s fifth goal in a 64th minute penalty kick.
Saad, in the 82nd minute, managed to drive a powerful shot into the Al Sadd net from close range. In the dying minutes of the match, Bounedjah completed his hat-trick with a powerful left-footed drive into the top of the net.
Substitute Sayyar, after getting a cross from Afif, curled one in for Al Sadd’s seventh goal of the night in the 89th minute.
