DOHA (Qatar): Al Sadd notched up yet another big win when they beat Al Sailiya 5-1 in the Qatar Stars League at the Education City Stadium on Monday.
Hassan Al Haidous (seventh minute), Santi Cazorla (30th-minute penalty), Baghdad Bounedjah (59th minute), Nam Tae-Hee (82nd minute) and substitute Ahmed Bader Sayyar (88th minute) scored the goals for Al Sadd, who moved on to six points.
Captain Majdi Siddiq gave Al Sailiya’s sole reply in the 41st minute.
Incidentally, it was by the same scoreline that Al Sadd had beaten Al Kharaitiyat in their opening match.
New recruit Cazorla continued to shine for Al Sadd as he scored once and gave assists for two goals.
Al Sailiya, who had held Al Rayyan to a 1-1 draw in their first game, remained on one point. The Peregrines had reinforced their squad ahead of the 2020-21 season and were expected to give Al Sadd a stiff challenge, but found themselves at the receiving end.
Al Sadd braced well for their campaign in the 2020 AFC Champions League, which will resume on 14th September with all West Zone matches being scheduled in Doha, in fine fashion.
Al Sadd showed no let-up and the opening onslaught saw Nam almost score in the first minute, but for an alert goalkeeper Amine Lecomte.
Bounedjah then missed a header, but The Wolves were not to be denied for long as Al Haydous started the scoring act by chipping the ball in after he received a long pass from Cazorla and darted into the area.
Cazorla doubled the lead by converting a penalty, awarded when Al Sailiya’s Ahmed Al Menhali fouled Pedro Miguel as the latter was about to cross the ball from the right inside the box.
Al Sailiya’s Mashaal Al Shammari hit one over the bar and Tiago Bezerra wasted a free-kick before Majdi reduced the margin with a long-range shot that resulted from a corner kick taken by Nadir Belhadj. Bounedjah’s headed clearance of the corner went straight to Majdi, who beat Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad Al Dossari at the far corner.
Mashaal came close to scoring in first-half injury time, but he failed to connect the ball with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Al Sailiya’s Ahmed Hammoudan was thwarted twice in the 51st minute, first by Al Dossari and then by Boualem Khoukhi.
Bounedjah made it 3-1 off a pass by Cazorla and Nam found the target with a rising shot from the top of the box that gave no chance to Lecomte.
Ahmed Sayyar rounded off the tally with a neat finish as Al Sadd cruised to an easy victory.
