Al Shamal’s Alex Collado (right) celebrates with teammate Akram Tawfik Elhagrasi.
Doha: Al Shamal crushed Umm Salal 5-0 in the final fixture of Qatar Stars League’s ninth week to climb to second spot in the standings yesterday.
At Al Khor Stadium, goals by Alex Collado and Baghdad Bounedjah, apart from an own goal by Umm Salal’s Issoufou Dayo put Al Shamal ahead at halftime. In the second half, Collado struck again to make it 4-0 before Moufak Awad completed the 5-0 drubbing to hand Umm Salal their sixth defeat in the League this season.
The result moved Al Shamal to 17 points from five wins, behind leaders Al Gharafa, who are on 19. Al Shamal and Qatar SC are level on points but ahead on goal difference. Umm Salal stayed 11th on 6 points.
Al Shamal’s early success was mainly due to mistakes by Umm Salal custodian Jehad Mohammad Hudib.
Collado’s powerful strike slipped through Hudib in the 11th minute, and a misread back-pass from Dayo went inside their own net in the 18th minute before Algerian goal machine Bounedjah added a third on 38 minutes from a Collado assist.
Collado scored his second goal with a left-footer from the edge of the box on 54 minutes. Awad’s goal came in the 90th minute. A free kick by Bounedjah, resulting from an 88th-minute red card to Diyab Haroon Taha, was blocked by a leaping Hudib, and Awad lunged forward to kick the ball in to complete a 5-0 rout, handing a miserable day to Umm Salal.
Earlier, at the Grand Hamad Stadium, Al Ahli secured a 2-1 win over Al Sailiya.
Julian Draxler scored a double (27th and 90+1 penalty) while Youssef Sinana (45+3) pulled one back for Al Sailiya via a penalty.
Draxler opened the scoring with a right-footed finish from the right side of the box. With the match heading for a draw, he converted a late penalty to seal a vital win for the Brigadiers.
The victory, their third overall triumph, moved Al Ahli to ninth spot in the standings, while Al Sailiya remained at six points in 10th position.
