Tribune News Network
Doha
Al Duhail scored a convincing 5-0 win over Al Arabi to regain a three-point lead at the top of ooredoo Stars League at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday.
Homam Al Ameen netted a brace (fifth and 16th minutes), while Lucas Verissimo (ninth minute), Benjamin Bourigeaud (26th minute) and Luis Alberto (65th minute) chipped in with a goal each as Duhail extended their lead to 25 points – three ahead of Al Sadd. Al Arabi, meanwhile, are just above the relegation zone in 10th place with 10 points.
The match, a goal fest for The Red Knights with four goals recorded in the first half, came easier than imagined for the league leaders, who seemed not to be willing to relinquish their top position in any way.
Al Duhail almost took the lead within 30 seconds of the opening whistle when Alberto saw his right-footed shot from the centre of the box blocked.
From thereon, it was one-way traffic, with coach Christophe Galtier’s men dominating and dictating the proceedings from all angles of the field. It was soon a matter of when and not if the goals would come and the first answer came in the fifth minute, with Homam banging home a long-range left-footer from an acutely-tight angle to open the door for the goal rain.
Four minutes later, Verissimo doubled the lead for the visiting team with a glancing header from Bourigeaud’s corner kick. A stunned Al Arabi tried to stage a comeback, but it was futile in the face of a resolute and determined Al Duhail defence.
By the 16th minute, any hope of Al Arabi taking anything away from the game was extinguished as Homam hit his brace of the night with a low-driven but powerful left-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner, which, on a good day, Al Arabi goalkeeper Jassim al-Hail could have done better in handling to take Al Duhail’s lead to three.
Al Arabi were lucky not to concede the fourth goal in the 21st minute when Veríssimo’s shot from more than 35 yards, following a Karim Boudiaf assist, was almost finding the target only to be off by just a few inches.
Al Duhail were only delayed, but not denied as their fourth of the night came five minutes later through Bourigeaud, who perfectly finished a sublime assist by Ismail Mohammed with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal.
Al Duhail’s fifth goal came in the 65th minute, with Almoez Ali helping Alberto as the Spanish midfielder banged in a right-footed shot into the bottom left corner.
A desperate Al Arabi were reduced to 10 men with six minutes to the end of regulation time in the encounter after Yousef Msakni got the marching orders for a dangerous play with his initial yellow card upgraded to red after a VAR review.
Al Ahli back in top three
Meanwhile, Al Ahli climbed back to third place in the table after a 3-0 win over Umm Salal at Grand Hamad Stadium. The victorious team got all their goals in the first half through Erik Expisito (29th minute) and Idrissa Doumbia (36th minute) after Antonio Mance had scored an own goal in the 10th minute. The result extended Al Ahli’s points tally to 21, while Umm Salal are eighth on 11 points.
Al Ahli got off to a dream start with Umm Salal’s Mance unwittingly giving them the lead when he mistakenly turned a header into his own net following a set piece by Driss Fettouhi in the 10th minute.
The Orange Fortress fought like a warrior from thereon with the hope of equalising but tried as much as they attempted; it was the Brigadiers who added to their tally in the 29th minute, with an unmarked Exposito having all the time in the world to nod home from the center of the box an inch-perfect cross by Islam Yaseen to the consternation of the hosts.
Doumbia registered his name on the scorers sheet in the 36th minute after outwitting two Umm Salal’s defender before slotting home a left-shooted shot from the center of the box that left Umm Salal’s goalkeeper Landing Badji stunned.
After several efforts, a resolute Umm Salal appeared to have gotten one back through Victor Lekhal, who nodded home from a corner kick, two minutes to the end of regulation time. But a lengthy VAR review, however, put paid to that with the referee signalling an infringement against Al Ahli’s goalkeeper Marwan Badreldin prior to the goal.
Al Shahania shore up
In the other match of the day, two stoppage-time goals saw Al Shahania beat Qatar SC 3-1 at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium. Pelle van Amersfoort (22nd minute and 90+3 minute) and Lotfi Majder (90+10 minute) scored for the winners while Qatar SC’s only goal came from Sebastian Soria in the 70th minute.
The result saw Al Shahania leapfrog to four places to 11th spot with 11 points in the rankings, ahead of Umm Salal on goal difference. Qatar SC slid a rung to 11th place with 10 points to their credit.
