Al-Sadd officially clinched the Expo Stars League title for the 2023-2024 season, marking their seventeenth league triumph in history, after a resounding 4-0 victory over Al-Shamal in the Round 21 match held on Wednesday, at Al-Bayt Stadium.
With this win, Al-Sadd increased their points tally to 49, and were confirmed as champions with one game left to play, having established an unassailable lead of four points.
The match saw the dismissals of Omid Ebrahimi in the 37th minute and Fahad Waad in the 75th minute from Al-Shamal, as well as Gonzalo Plata from Al-Sadd in the 75th minute.
The Expo Stars League shield was presented to the Al-Sadd players in a ceremony that was graced by H.E. Jassim bin Rashid Al Buainain, the president of the Qatar Football Association and the Qatar Stars League Management; Mr. Hani Balan, the CEO of the QSL; H.E. Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the Minister of Municipality and Vice President of Al-Sadd Club, and Sheikh Khalifa bin Khalid Al Thani, a member of the Al-Sadd Club Advisory Council.
Al-Sadd started the match with intensity, with Hassan Al-Haydos opening the scoring for the team in the 7th minute itself, capitalising on an error from Al-Shamal’s backline. The dominance of Al-Sadd continued as Gonzalo Plata added the second goal in the 27th minute with a low strike after surging into the box. Akram Afif then won and converted a penalty kick to make it 3-0 in favour of Al-Sadd in the 83rd minute.
Finally, Paulo Otavio got on the scoresheet in added time with a slick finish following a move involving Baghdad Bounedjah and Al-Haydos, which sealed a comprehensive 4-0 victory for Al-Sadd.
