Al-Sadd maintained their perfect record in the QNB Stars League with yet another victory, after overcoming Al-Gharafa 6-4 in a thrilling Round 6 game which was played at Thani bin Jassim Stadium on Sunday evening.
Baghdad Bounedjah (7′, 52′), Hassan Al-Haydos (14′, 40′), Saifeldeen Fadlallah (17′ OG) and Andre Ayew (89′) scored the goals for Al-Sadd, while Cheikh Diabate (21′, 45′), Saifeldeen Fadlallah (29′) and Ahmed Alaa (57′) netted for Al-Gharafa. The result saw the Wolves increase their points tally to 18, after 6 wins from 6 games.
The match got off to a great start for Al-Sadd, who began on the front foot, as Baghdad Bounedjah opened the scoring in the 7th minute. Akram Afif’s pass was put through by Tabata towards Bounedjah, and the Algerian striker made no mistake with his finish.
In the 14th minute, Hassan Al-Haydos sent in a cross from the left and the ball took a deflection off Al-Gharafa’s Saeed Al Haj before flying into the net, over the head of the keeper.
Three minutes later, a third goal arrived for Al-Sadd, and once again Al-Haydos was involved from the left. He got into the box and played in a low cross, which was diverted in by defender Saifeldeen Fadlallah.
Al-Sadd looked to be cruising with the score at 3-0, but the lead was cut when Cheikh Diabate finished off a pass from Ahmed Alaa in a rare attack.
The deficit was reduced even further in the 29th minute, as Saifeldeen slammed in the rebound after Meshaal Barsham had initally kept out Sofiane Hanni’s penalty.
Al-Haydos then scored at the other end in the 40th minute to make it 4-2 in favour of Al-Sadd, but the difference was brought back to just one goal by Diabate, who got past Meshaal Barsham and struck just moments before the halftime whistle.
After the break, Al-Sadd began pushing forwards to increase their lead and Bounedjah duly delivered when he tapped home from close range in the 52nd minute, following a perfect squared ball from Al-Haydos, to take the score to 5-3.
Once more, Al-Gharafa struck back, as Ahmed Alaa netted from a tight angle in the 57th minute to keep his side just one goal behind again.
However, Al-Sadd managed to hold their ground and did not let the lead falter; instead, they were able to extend it further in the 89th minute, when substitute Andre Ayew scored from just yards out.
That would be the final goal of the game, as Al-Sadd came out on top with a 6-4 victory that maintained their 100% record in the league.
MATCH DETAILS
Al-Sadd x Al-Sailiya (QNB Stars League 2021-22 – Round 1)
Venue:
Thani bin Jassim Stadium
Lineups:
Al-Sadd: Meshaal Barsham, Musaab Khidir (Abdulrahman Rashid), Jung Woo-young, Hassan Al Haydos (Mohammed Almanai), Ali Asad (Andre Ayew), Baghdad Bounedjah, Rodrigo Tabata (Santi Cazorla), Abdelkarim Hassan (Pedro Miguel), Guilherme, Tarek Salman, Akram Afif
Al-Gharafa: Yousuf Hassan, Saifeldeen Fadlallah, Almahdi Ali, Mehdi Tahrat, Ahmed Alaa, Amro Seraj, Gabriel Pires, Saeed Al Haj, Sofiane Hanni, Cheich Diabate, Othman Al Yahri
Result:
Al-Sadd won 6-4
Goals:
Baghdad Bounedjah (7′, 52′)
Hassan Al-Haydos (14′, 40′)
Saifeldeen Fadlallah (17′ OG)
Cheikh Diabate (21′, 45′)
Saifeldeen Fadlallah (29′)
Ahmed Alaa (57′)
Andre Ayew (89′)
Bookings:
Akram Afif 68′
Referees:
Main referee: Salman Falahi
Assistant referee: Jumuah Burshid
Assistant referee: Hamad Al Ejji
Fourth official: Khalid Abdullah
