Doha: Umm Salal upstaged a 10-man Al Sadd 3-1 in Week 4 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium of Al Sadd club on Friday.
Kenji Gorre (second minute), Antonio Mance (22nd minute) and Edidiong Essien (90+3 minute) scored for Umm Salal, while Al Sadd’s only goal came via a penalty strike taken by Hassan Al Haydous (70th minute).
Making matters worse for Al Sadd was a second yellow card for Mohammed Waad in the 53rd minute when he back-tackled Oussama Tannane. The second caution saw the referee signal his expulsion with a red card.
The Umm Salal outclassed the defending champions for their second win of the league to move into fourth place with six points, while Al Sadd stayed on six points. It was The Wolves’ second loss of the league after being shocked in the opening round by Al Shamal.
The team caught Al Sadd by surprise after a Omar Yahya through ball from the left was cut off by Ahmed Suhail, but it went to a running-in Gorre, who chested it first before managing t
o kick it in.
The second Umm Salal goal was realized after a Gorre kick was blocked by goalkeeper Al Sheeb, but Gorre retrieved it on bounce back before battling a defending Suhail and pushing the ball to Mance to score.
Al Sadd’s challenge to launch a fightback then began, but despite their best efforts the target remained elusive for long.
Among their many close runs in the opening half was Al Haydous missing a crucial connect near the post, a Mohammed Waad kick going just wide of the right post and a powerful Rafa Mujica kick missing the top right corner. At the same time, Umm Salal goalkeeper Landing Badji was at his best as he kept many attempted hits away including one from Akram Afif on the hour mark.
Both teams battled hard before Al Sadd were awarded a penalty after Marouane Louadni brought down Naim Abdulrazaq inside the danger area. A long VAR check confirmed the spot kick which was smoothly scored by Al Haydous to make the score 2-1.
In the 78th minute, Saad Al Sheeb made a brilliant save to
keep a shot from Umm Salal’s Khalaf Saad away.
Minutes later, Gorre was within striking distance, but failed to beat Al Sheeb, with Boualem Khoukhi in chase putting him off-balance.
Umm Salal, however, scored a superb celebratory third goal as Al Sadd substitute tried to cut off a free kick from the left, but the ball went to a lurking Essien who rattled the top of the net with a left-footed strike.
Source: Qatar News Agency