(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Baghdad Bounedjah became the Qatar league's all-time top scorer in a single season after his brace helped Al Sadd thrash Al Shahania 4-1 yesterday.
The victory also helped the Wolves close the gap on Al Duhail to just one point after the leaders stumbled to a 1-1 draw against 10th-placed Qatar Sports Club.
Bounedjah, who was the top scorer in the AFC Champions League, struck in the 50th and 76th minutes, while Hassan al-Haydos also recorded a double as Al Sadd reached 35 points from 14 matches, just one behind Al Duhail.
Algerian international Bounedjah thus took his personal tally to 28, beating the previous mark of 27 set by Brazilian Clemerson Soares for Al Gharafa during the 2007-08 season.
As expected, Al Sadd dominated possession and scripted more opportunities, substantiated by 63 per cent of ball possession by them at half-time. Interestingly, they maintained the same percentage at the end of the game.
After Al Shahania's Kesse Amanguoa was thwarted by Al Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Dosari, Bounedjah missed a sitter, with rival goalkeeper Amer al-Amri parrying the ball with his leg.
Al-Haydous opened the scoring in the 23rd minute by slotting home a rebound after Akram Afif failed attempt at the goal.
Al Shahania were in no mood to give up, even though they had to play second fiddle to their formidable opponents in the second half, and drew parity as Luciano sent the ball in off a cross from the left by Kesse in the 42nd minute.
Al Sadd fired in three more goals after resumption, with Bounedjah being on target twice, to surpass Clemerson.
Earlier, Duhail recorded their third draw when they were held 1-1 by Qatar Sports Club.
Osama Omari had put Qatar SC ahead in the 22nd minute, but after a great deal of huffing and puffing Murad Naji saved Duhail's blushes with a 75th minute strike to help his team grab a point.
The return of Cameroonian star Samuel Eto'o strengthened Qatar SC's attack with Osama and Hussein Ali contributing to the team's cause.
Al Duhail continued to miss South Korean midfielder Nam Tae-Hee, who was injured while doing national duty for his native South Korea during the last international break.
Qatar SC matched Al Duhail move by move and even shocked the hosts by taking the lead.
Goalkeeper Khalifa Aboobacker completely misjudged the flight of the ball after Osama took the free-kick from the left. Neither did the defenders do anything about it. The free-kick was awarded when Al Duhail defender Murad Naji ‘handled' the ball.
Al Duhail created more chances, but nothing too strong that could give them a goal. Paolo Edmilson tried to split open the Qatar SC defence. So did Yousef El Arabi and Almoez Ali, all in vain.
The closest Al Duhail came to scoring in the first half was when Ali Afif sent a first-time volley over the bar off a cross by Edmilson from the right.
Al Duhail started the second half by replacing Luis Martin with Under-23 player Hazem Ahmed. Hazem immediately made his mark by moving forward and that resulted in a collision involving him and Qatar SC goalkeeper Jassim al-Hail.
Murad then came up with a long-ranger that went just wide on the hour mark. However, the right-back was not to be denied as he struck the equaliser for Al Duhail.
Indeed, Murad made amends for the offence he committed that led to Qatar SC's goal in similar fashion as he sent in a free-kick past the outstretched hands of Al Hail.
Al Duhail intensified their efforts as the game wore on, but could not find the winner.
MENAFN0912201800670000ID1097805422
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.