In the QSL Cup’s Round 4, Group A matches on Friday, Al Duhail blanked Al Arabi 4-0, Qatar SC defeated Al Kharaitiyat 4-0 and Al Gharafa beat Umm Salal 3-1.
Al Duhail, Qatar SC and Al Gharafa booked quarterfinal berths with eight points each. Umm Salal and Al Kharaitiyat will fight it out for the other last-eight spot from Group A.
Al Arabi are out of contention as they have yet to open their account, having lost all four of their matches.
Al Duhail 4 Al Arabi 0
Al Duhail registered their second victory when they easily put it across Al Arabi by a 4-0 margin.
Saleh Al Hilabi (31st minute), Salmin Zayed (57th), Rabeh Bousaffi (61st) and Paolo Edmilson (83rd) scored the goals.
Al Duhail, under the watchful eyes of their former player and Algerian international Madjid Bougherra standing in place of regular coach Nabil Maaloul from Tunisia, had an upper hand right throughout the game.
Edmilson was the livewire in the Al Duhail ranks as they dominated the ball with 62 per cent possession even though Al Arabi forced three corner kicks as against the rivals’ one.
Al Kharaitiyat 0 Qatar SC 4
Qatar SC also recorded their second win as they breezed past Al Kharaitiyat 4-0.
Former Cameroonian and Barcelona star Samuel Eto’o contributed a brace (27th and 40th minutes) to Qatar SC’s victory.
Fadl Omar and Ali Said Al Mohannadi scored the other goals in the 36th and 68th minute respectively.
Al Kharaitiyat’s best chance to pull one back came in the 58th minute, but Maher’s shot was blocked by Qatar SC goalkeeper Rajab Hamza.
Al Kharaitiyat showed more enthusiasm in the second half in their bid to make a breakthrough, as Qatar SC slightly took their foot off the pedal, having had a three-goal cushion.
However, amid Al Kharaitiyat’s moves, Qatar SC shook the rival net one more time when Ali headed in a cross.
Qatar SC had 58 per cent of ball possession.
Qatar SC, like Al Duhail, are also unbeaten so far in the tournament.
Al Gharafa 3 Umm Salal 1
Defending champions Al Gharafa defeated Umm Salal 3-1 for their second victory and to remain unbeaten in the group.
Fahad Al Shammari (48th minute), Vladimir Weiss (69th) and Monkez Mohammed (90+1) found the net for Al Gharafa, while Nasser Al Nasr pulled a goal back for Umm Salal in the 88th minute.
Umm Salal thus crashed to their first defeat and stayed on five points.
The match really came alive after resumption of play following a barren first half.
After Al Gharafa went 2-0 up through goals from Fahad and Vladimir, Nasser gave Umm Salal slight hopes by finding the target towards the end.
However, Al Gharafa sealed the issue through Monkez’s stoppage-time goal.
Source: qsl.qa