DOHA (Qatar): Al Sadd beat Al Kharaitiyat 5-0 to maintain their lead and unbeaten run in the 2020-21 Qatar Stars League at their home ground on Saturday.
Rodrigo Tabata (69th and 79th minutes), Ali Asad (73rd minute) and Baghdad Bounedjah (82nd and 89th minutes) emerged as the goal heroes as Al Sadd completed their 10th win of the season and extended their lead on top of the table with 32 points.
Evans Mensah arrived to meet a perfect cross from Rachid Tiberkanine in the third minute. Under pressure from Musaab Khidir, Mensah managed a wayward header to waste the early opportunity at goal.
In the 10th minute, Khadir launched a curling long cross for Bounedjah. The tall Algerian – in close proximity of the Al Kharaitiyat goalmouth – was beaten to the dipping cross by keeper Shehab Ellethy.
Six minutes later, defender Abdelkarim Hassan sneaked into the Al Kharaitiyat box, but his left-footed flick narrowly missed the goalpost.
Al Kharaitiyat’s skipper Mohamed Aamir – on the edge of the Al Sadd box – found good angle on his volley, but keeper Meshaal Barsham dived to his left to stop the ball that eventually trickled away.
In the 24th minute, Al Sadd’s Santiago Cazorla almost found the target – with a right-footed drive – but the ball was deflected by the keeper with a dive to his left. Eleven minutes later, after receiving a short tap from Hassan Al Haydous, Nam Tae-Hee hit the Al Kharaitiyat crossbar with a powerful shot.
In another Al Sadd move, Bounedjah clipped one from well inside the box, but the ball sailed close to the crossbar. In another header from close range in the 42nd minute, Bounedjah could not hit the net on a Cazorla corner kick.
In a rather ambitious move, Oumar Sako opted for a long-range shot from outside the Al Kharaitiyat box, but the ball sailed above the crossbar without causing damage in the 48th minute.
After a few hits and misses from both sides, Al Sadd found the net when substitute Tabata, after a cross from Al Haydous, deflected in the ball past the goalkeeper.
The lead doubled when Bounedjah, stationed inside the Al Kharaitiyat box, slipped in a neat cross to unmarked team-mate Ali Asad, who found the net from close range.
Tabata made the most of fresh legs as he scored his second of the match with a slick shot after charging into the Al Kharitiyat box following a short pass from the right flank.
Bounedjah then found the net, drilling a right-footed shot from inside the box as Shehab stepped out to kill the move. Bounedjah scored one more goal, also from close range.
(Source: QSL)
