Al Sadd's Rodrigo Tabata celebrating after scoring against Al Ahli on Sunday.
Doha: Al Sadd's 7-1 hammering of Al Ahli was the highlight of Round 5 of the QNB Stars league this weekend.
The dominant win lifted the former champions to the top of the standings as the League heads to a brief break which is enforced due to the hosting of the AFC Champions League’s East Zone matches. The East Zone matches will take place in Doha from November 18- December 19.
The fifth round of the domestic league provided excitement to fans as the QSL allowed more spectators into the stadiums.
The three-day round saw as many as 25 goals being scored and only one of the six matches ended in a draw.
Al Sadd secured the top spot with 13 points following their big win on Sunday as Al Ahli remained on 12 points. They are occupying the second spot in the points table.
Hashem Ali led the scoring for Al Sadd with two goals. Rodrigo Tabata, Akram Afif, Santi Cazorla, Nam Tae-Hee and Ahmed Sayyar were the other scorers for the Xavi Hernandez-coached former champions.
Al Sadd will gear up for their Amir Cup semi-final against Al Duhail. The match will be played on October 31 at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
Nabil El Zhar gave the lone reply for Al Ahli, who stood second in the table.
Reigning champions Al Duhail climbed from fifth to third with nine points after registering a 2-1 victory over Al Rayyan in the week’s marquee fixture. Eduardo Rodriguez (Dudu) and Ramin Rezaeian scored for Al Duhail after Al Rayyan took the lead through Yacine Brahimi. Al Rayyan slipped from fourth to sixth position with seven points.
Umm Salal recorded their first victory by beating Qatar SC 1-0, with Ismail Mahmoud netting the winner. The teams swapped 10th and last places following the result.
Al Sailiya made it big as they beat Al Gharafa by a 4-2 margin and occupied the seventh spot, whereas Al Gharafa lost the third position to be placed fourth.
Mohanad Ali (two goals), Mohammed Mudather and Ahmed Hammoudan scored for Al Sailiya. For Al Gharafa, Muad Hassan and Jonathan Kodjia found the target.
Al Sailiya, who moved from eighth to seventh, and Al Gharafa are now on seven and nine points respectively.
Al Wakrah and Al Arabi fought out an entertaining 2-2 draw to be on fifth and ninth position with seven and five points respectively.
Promoted Al Kharaitiyat scored an impressive 2-1 victory over Al Khor to move from 11th to eighth spot with six points, while Al Khor slipped from ninth to 11th position with three points.
While Mohammed Osman and Rachid Tiberkanine scored for Al Kharaitiyat, new recruit Giannis Fetfatzidis found the target for Al Khor.
