Doha: The QNB Stars League’s Round 16 action witnessed exciting encounters and as many as 25 goals were scored across six matches played on Saturday and Sunday.
Al Wakrah retained their third position with 28 points by beating Al Duhail 4-0, with Mohammed Ayesh, Jacinto Dala, Khaled Munir and Mohamed Benyettou finding the target. Al Duhail stood second in the table with 33 points.
In Round 16, two matches ended in draws while Umm Salal recorded the biggest margin of victory when they beat Al Shamal 6-0. Umm Salal thus advanced from sixth to fifth place in the standings with 25 points, while Al Shamal stood 10th with 13 points.
Al Arabi fell to sixth place from fifth with 23 points following their 2-4 loss to reigning champions Al Sadd.
Akram Afif stood out with a hat-trick for Al Sadd, whose other goal was scored by Santi Cazorla (penalty). Al Sadd remained on top of the standings with 37 points.
Al Sadd have three games in hand against Al Wakrah, Qatar SC and Al Rayyan (Qatar Clasico).
Also, Al Gharafa retained the fourth spot with a 3-2 win over Qatar SC, who slipped from eighth to ninth place with 16 points. Al Rayyan kept the seventh place in the QNB Stars League standings despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Al Ahli. Al Rayyan and Al Ahli are both now on 17 points, with the latter occupying the eighth position.
In the other match, Al Khor and Sailiya played out a 1-1 draw. Al Khor (11 points) and Al Sailiya (seven points) remained 11th and 12th in the table respectively. In terms of top scorers, Al Duhail’s Michael Olunga continues to lead the list with 17 goals, followed by Al Sadd’s Baghdad Bounedjah and Umm Salal’s Ayman Hussein (both 11 goals). Then comes Al Sadd’s Akram Afif and Andre Ayew and Al Wakrah’s Jacinto Dala (all nine goals).
