QNB Stars League - Week 4 highlights
Kenyan striker Michael Olunga scripted his name in the history books after scoring all the five goals for Al Duhail against Al Sailiya in the Week 4 fixtures of the 2021-2022 QNB Stars League.
The striker, who came on as a substitute in the second half, bagged a hat-trick within 12 minutes (56', 62', 68') before adding two more in the 76th and 85th minute to make history on Sunday at the Khalifa International Stadium.
In all, a total of 21 goals were scored, the most for any round so far this season, in the six matches played on Sunday, 26th and Monday, 27th September, respectively.
There were four victories, and two draws with the Al Sadd versus Al Shamal match, which recorded nine goals with The Wolves winning 7-2, having the highest number of goals.
The coach Xavi men displaced Al Duhail from the top of the standings by having scored more goals. Al Sadd and Al Duhail are both on 12 points, and their goal difference is 11, but Al Sadd scored 16 goals and conceded five as against Al Duhail's 14 and three. Naturally, the title race is hotting up, especially between Al Sadd and Al Duhail.
Here are the highlights from the matches:
Al Rayyan 2 vs Al Khor 2
Date: Monday, September 27, 2021.
Venue: Al Gharafa Stadium
Al Rayyan and Al Khor shared points following a 2-2 draw at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Monday.
Ismail Haddad (first minute) and Said Brahimi (30th minute) scored the goals for Al Khor.
Yohan Boli (20th minute) and Yacine Brahimi (57th-minute penalty) scored for Al Rayyan.
Al Rayyan and Al Khor moved on to three and two points respectively.
In just the first minute, Al Khor opened the scoring in what turned out to be a feisty contest. Al Rayyan keeper Fahad Younes, in an attempt to clear a back pass, fired the ball towards Al Khor’s Said Brahimi who was stationed on the edge of the box.
Brahmi picked out Haddad with a short cross to his left and the latter slipped the ball into the goal with a left-footed flick past the keeper as Al Khor celebrated a shock goal in just the opening minute.
In the ninth minute, off a corner kick, Dame Traore of Al Rayyan managed a snap-header, but the deflection from close range landed on top of the Al Khor net.
Soon afterward, Al Rayyan won a penalty when Al Khor captain Naif Al Buraiki brought down Boli inside the box. Brahimi’s spot kick was saved by Al Khor keeper Baba Djibril with a dive to his right. On the resultant corner kick, Boli flicked a loose ball into the net with a quick swivel from close range.
In the 30th minute, Al Khor were 2-1 up through a brilliant field goal. Greek international Giannis Fetfatzidis, after picking up a cross from the edge of the box, dribbled his way past three Al Rayyan players before slipping the ball to an unmarked Said Brahimi, who easily sent the ball crashing into the net.
Just shy of the hour mark, Hashem Ali was roughly tackled by Anas Ahmed Ibrahim and the referee pointed to the spot. And Yacine Brahimi easily converted the penalty.
Al Wakrah 0 vs Al Ahli 0
Date: Monday, September 27, 2021
Venue: Khalifa International Stadium
Al Wakrah and Al Ahli played out a 0-0 draw at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.
Al Wakrah raised their points to five (one victory, two draws and one loss), while Al Ahli moved on to three points (3 draws and a defeat).
Al Wakrah had started their campaign by losing 0-1 to Al Arabi, but The Blue Wave pulled off a 1-1 draw with Al Rayyan in Week 2. However, Marquez Lopez’s men beat Al Khor 2-1 in the last round.
Al Ahli had played out goalless draws against Qatar SC in Week 1 and Umm Salal in Week 3. The Brigadiers, coached by Montenegrin Nebojsa Jovovic, lost 0-1 to Al Gharafa in their other match.
Al Gharafa 1 vs Umm Salal 0
Date: Monday, September 27, 2021
Venue: Khalifa International Stadium
Al Gharafa beat Umm Salal 1-0 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Monday.
Cheick Diabete (59th minute) scored the only goal of the match.
It was Al Gharafa's third victory and they now have nine points. Umm Salal stayed on three points.
In the 38th minute, a 1-2 by Hassan Muayed and Ahmed Al Janehi nearly brought Al Gharafa the opening goal. Muayed’s header from inside the box on a cross from Al Janehi narrowly missed the target.
A couple of minutes later, Muayed got close to the Umm Salal goal despite Atef Zaghbani chasing him, but his shot from close range hit the goalpost.
Just before the hour mark, Al Gharafa grabbed the lead through a long solo run by Diabete. After receiving a short cross from Othman Alawi near the centerline, Diabete ran all the way until the edge of the Umm Salal box, with Sayed Hassan giving the Malian striker a hot chase. From the edge of the box, Diabete unleashed a powerful shot that crashed into the top of the net and Umm Salal keeper Khalifa Ababacar unable to manage a save.
In the 76th minute, Ali Ferydoon of Umm Salal broke free of his marker inside the Al Gharafa box, but his rushed shot hit the outside of the net.
Al Duhail 5 vs Al Sailiya 0
Date: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Venue: Khalifa International Stadium
Al Duhail beat Al Sailiya 5-0 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Sunday.
Five goals by Kenyan forward Michael Olunga (56th, 62nd, 68th, 79th and 85th minutes) powered Al Duhail to an impressive win, their fourth successive victory in the new season.
Al Duhail missed an early chance to score when in the 13th minute, captain Almoez Ali delayed a shot from close range. His shot was blocked by an Al Sailiya defender.
Six minutes later, Al Sailiya’s Norwegian forward Valentin Adama Diamonde – stationed inside the Al Duhail box – failed to find angle on his header following a cross from the flank.
In the 37th minute, Diamonde broke free of his marker and clipped a shot from inside the Al Duhail box, but failed to find the target under pressure.
A couple of minutes before the end of first half, Majdi Siddiq of Al Sailiya attempted a long-range shot from outside the box, but the ball was smartly blocked by goalkeeper Salah Zakaria.
Four minutes into the second half, Al Sailiya’s Driss Fettouhi curled in a powerful left-footed drive that touched the fingers of the Al Duhail keeper and sailed above the crossbar.
Soon afterwards, Al Duhail opened the scoring through Olunga who found the net – after an assist by Almoez - with a powerful shot to the left of keeper Claud Amine.
Six minutes later, Olunga – after being picked up with a clever long ball by Ferjani Sassi – charged ahead of two Al Sailiya defenders, headed the ball past the charging keeper and then clipped the ball into an open net from close range. It was a spectacular charge by Olunga who lifted his team with his second goal of the match with breathtaking speed.
A few minutes later, Olunga completed his hat-trick when he tapped a low cross by Mohammed Alaaeldin from close range, sending the ball into the net with ease.
Then, Olunga deflected a ball into an open net after a shot by Almoez from close range was blocked by the goalkeeper. The ball landed at Olunga’s feet and he wasted no time in scoring his fourth goal of the match.
A 1-2 by Almoez and Olunga helped the Kenyan striker score his fifth of the evening.
Qatar SC 0 vs Al Arabi 2
Date: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Venue: Al Arabi Stadium
Al Arabi beat Qatar SC 2-0 at the Al Arabi Stadium on Sunday.
Mehrdad Mohammadi (41st-minute penalty) and Aaron Boupendza (50th minute) scored the goals as Al Arabi notched up their third win of the season, having beaten Al Wakrah and Al Sailiya, both by a 1-0 margin.
Al Arabi now have nine points and Qatar SC remained on one point.
The match got off to a pacy start. In a rather surprising move, Algerian forward Youcef Belaili intercepted a long cross away from Al Arabi’s box. After noticing that Al Arabi keeper Mahmoud Abunada was out of his position, Belaili clipped a long ball over his head. The ball sailed past the goalpost to the right of Abunada in the eighth minute, narrowly missing the target.
Eight minutes before the end of first half, former Qatar international Sebastian Soria missed the easiest of chances just five feet away from the goal. Belaili produced a powerful shot on a direct free-kick. The Al Arabi keeper stopped the shot, but the ball popped in front of Soria who completely mistimed his deflection and let the ball fly above the crossbar.
A minute later, Al Arabi grabbed the lead through a penalty well-executed by Mehrdad. It was awarded when he was brought down by Qatar SC’s Eisa Ahmed.
Early in the second half, Tunisian forward Yousef Msakni dribbled his way past three Qatar SC players, but his cross from close range was misread by team-mate Boupendza who was slow to react with only keeper Jassim Al Hail to beat.
Barely a minute later, Boupendza curled in spectacularly a free-kick from outside the box. The ball sailed above the Qatar SC wall and crashed into the net with Al Hail rooted to his spot.
In one of the easiest of misses, Qatar SC’s Javier Martinez, with time and space, misfired his shot just a few feet away from the Al Arabi goal.
Both teams fought hard, but another goal did not come.
Al Sadd 7 vs Al Shamal 2
Date: Sunday, September 26, 2021
Venue: Khalifa International Stadium
Reigning champions Al Sadd defeated Al Shamal 7-2 at the Khalifa International Stadium on Sunday.
Ali Asad (10th minute), Baghdad Bounedjah (13th and 89th minutes), Andre Ayew (15th minute), Yousef Abdulrazaq (57th minute) and Rodrigo Tabata (85th minute) scored the goals for Al Sadd, who were also helped by Al Shamal’s Matias Nani’s own goal in the 54th minute.
Mohsen Al Yazidi (12th minute) and Khalifa Saad (87th minute) gave Al Shamal’s reply.
Al Sadd raised their points to 12 with an all-win record, the same as Al Duhail who beat Al Sailiya 5-0 earlier in the day.
Promoted side Al Shamal stood on three points that they collected from their 2-1 victory over Qatar SC in Week 3.
Al Sadd’s other wins were against Al Sailiya (2-0), Qatar SC (3-1) and Al Rayyan (4-2) in the Qatar Clasico, whereas Al Shamal had lost their first two matches (0-2 to Al Gharafa and 2-3 to Al Sailiya).
Al Sadd expectedly dominated Al Shamal in all departments of the game and took the lead through Ali Asad, who was assisted by Akram Afif.
Al Shamal shot back by equalizing a couple of minutes later through Mohsen, with Jeison Escobar providing him with the pass.
Prolific scorer Bounedjah gave back Al Sadd the lead the next minute, with Akram again giving the assist.
New recruit Ayew got into the scorers’ list two minutes later to make it 3-1.
Al Sadd continued their dominance in the second half.
After Nani scored into his own goal in his bid to clear the rebound from the right post following Ayew’s header, Al Sadd struck three more times, with Yousef Abdulrazaq, Tabata and Bounedjah (completing his double) finding the mark.
In between the goals of Tabata and Bounedjah, Khalifa had reduced the margin for Al Shamal by scoring off a counter-attack.
The QNB QSL Week 5 round of matches will be played on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2, 2021, respectively.
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