Baghdad Bounedjah’s goal fest for Al Shamal continued on the weekend Al Duhail furthered their lead at the top.

Algerian forward Baghdad Bounedjah scored his first hat-trick of the season in Al Shamal’s 5-2 win over Al Arabi to take his tally to nine goals at the top of the Golden Boot race.

The former Al Sadd forward opened the scoring at Al Khor Stadium within a minute from kick-off, starting a goal-packed first half on Saturday.

Al Arabi then momentarily took the lead as Palestinian winger Alaa Aldeen Hassan and Jordan’s Yazan Al-Naimat scored in the seventh and sixteenth minutes respectively.

The lead, however, lasted for just five minutes as 20-year-old Mohamed Rafik Omar levelled the score in the 21st minute and then put Al Shamal ahead after 10 minutes.

Bounedjah converted Rafik Omar’s assist two minutes into the added time of the first half to put Al Shamal in a two-goal lead.

It was then a relatively easy task for Nuno Almeida’s side as Al Arabi did little to trouble the defence.

Instead, Bounedjah completed his hat-trick in the 82nd minute, taking the ball off Al Arabi defender Wassim Keddari to score after a solo run.

Al Shamal are now sixth in the Ooredoo Stars League table with ten points, having defeated the likes of Al Sadd and Al Khor previously.

Al Duhail end Al Ahli’s unbeaten run to extend the lead

Michael Olunga’s strike late in the first half was enough for table toppers Al Duhail to steal a win against second-placed Al Ahli at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday.

The Kenyan striker met Edmilson Junior’s cross at the far post, unmarked, with a powerful header in the 42nd minute to put the away side in the lead.

Christophe Galtier’s Al Duhail side then did a good job to see off the lead for the rest of the game, despite occasional threats from the opposite end, courtesy of Sekou Oumar Yansane, Abdelrahman Moustafa, and Julian Draxler.

The win ended Al Ahli’s high-flying unbeaten run in the ongoing season, which had seen them get 14 points in six games to keep pressure on Al Duhail.

Duhail’s run, meanwhile, was ended by Al Shahania before the international break as the minnows plotted a 2-1 win over the 2022/23 league champions.

With one loss, Al Duhail are currently placed at the top of the table with 18 points, four more than Al Ahli.

Qatar SC stun Al Wakrah

Late goals in either half saw Qatar SC win 2-1 over Al Wakrah at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday, handing the Doha-based club their second win of the 2024/25 campaign.

Al Wakrah scored first in the 24th minute through Ricardo Gomes’ header off full-back Abdelkarim Hassan’s cross.

The visitors, however, suffered as soon as the celebrations were over as centre-back Almahdi Ali got sent off for his second yellow card of the night.

Ali had conceded his first as early as the seventh minute and both bookings against him came for reckless challengers.

Capitalising on the advantage, Qatar SC equalised through Eisa Palangi’s goal in the 41st minute and had to wait until the 87th minute for Khaled Mahmoudi’s winning strike following a scramble in the box.

Al Sadd, Al Gharafa, and Al Rayyan secure wins

Al Gharafa came back from the deficit to score three in the second half and beat Umm Salal 3-1 at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium on Friday.

Umm Salal’s Antonio Mance scored four minutes into the second half to give Umm Salal the lead, which only lasted for 13 minutes, before Al Gharafa drew 1-1 courtesy of a penalty goal from Spanish striker Joselu.

Captain Ferjani Sassi gave the hosts the lead with just two minutes of regular time to play for.

Winger Jamal Hamed, who was signed earlier this summer, then made it 3-1 for Al Gharafa in the eighth minute of injury time to all but seal an important win ahead of the crucial AFC Champions League Elit clash against UAE’s Al Wasl.

New signings were also on the scoresheet in Al Sadd’s 4-2 win over Al Shahania at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.

The Spanish duo of Rafa Mujica and Cristo Gonzalez scored in the 19th and the 23rd minute for Al Sadd, following Moustafa Mashal’s goal in the second minute.

Alhassan Koroma’s second-half brace was not enough for Al Shahania to pull off another giant-killing win as Pelle van Amersfoort’s 78th-minute own goal put the tie out of reach for the visitors.

Yohan Boli was also on the own goal scorer’s list in Al Khor’s 2-1 loss against Al Rayyan at the Al Khor Stadium on Friday.

Boli scored past his own keeper just five minutes into the game but momentarily made up by scoring the equaliser just four minutes after the mishap.

Al Rayyan left it late to bag the winning goal as Roger Guedes scored with eight minutes of regular time to play in the second half.

With the win, Al Rayyan now are eighth in the league table with three wins, whereas Al Khor lie at the bottom spot, still winless after seven matches.