Olunga slams in 5 for Al Sadd vs Shamal; Bounedjah brace as Duhail rout Sailiya

Tribune News Network Doha Reigning champions Al Sadd and strong contenders Al Duhail scored thumping wins over large margins over their rivals in Week 4 ma...

Tribune News NetworkDohaReigning champions Al Sadd and strong contenders Al Duhail scored thumping wins over large margins over their rivals in Week 4 matches of the 2021-2022 season QNB Stars League at the Khalifa International Stadium on Sunday.While the Wolves thrashed Al Shamal 7-2, Al Duhail blanked Al Sailiya 5-0. For Al Sadd: 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.Five-star Olunga all the way for Red KnightsFive goals by Kenyan forward Michael Olunga (56th, 62nd, 68th, 79th and 85th minutes) powered Al Duhail to an impressive win over Al Sailiya, 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.The third match action of the day saw Al Arabi beat Qatar SC 2-0.