Al Duhail strengthened their lead in the Qatar Stars League (Ooredoo Stars League) at the end of the third round, after escaping the trap of Umm Salal to achieve their third consecutive victory, while Al Sadd (the title holder) maintained their brilliance and overwhelmed Al Arabi’s net with five clean goals in the Qatari football derby, so that the team that has won the tournament the most (17 times) retained third place in the campaign to defend its title.
While Al-Ahli maintained its pursuit of the leader by overcoming Al-Khor, the fans of Al-Rayyan, the 8-time champion, suffered new disappointment after their team suffered its second consecutive defeat against Al-Gharafa, and Al-Wakrah inflicted the first defeat on the newcomer Al-Shahaniya.
At Khalifa International Stadium, Al Duhail, who are seeking to regain the title they lost last season, managed to escape Umm Salal’s trap through friendly fire after former French Le Havre player Victor Lekhal scored the only goal of the match by mistake, giving the team of French coach Christophe Galtier a full score that strengthened their lead in the standings.
On the other hand, Umm Salal suffered its second defeat this season and dropped to seventh place, on goal difference from sixth-placed Al Shamal.
At Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Al Sadd inflicted a heavy defeat on Al Arabi with five clean goals in a match in which the best player in the 2023 Asian Cup, Akram Afif, scored his 100th goal in the Qatari League, as did the Spaniard Rafa Mujica, who scored his first hat-trick with the Qatari League champion.
Al Sadd, accompanied by former Qatari national team coach Felix Sanchez, was able to extend its control over the course of the match from the gate to the sanctuary, without allowing the 2024 Emir Cup champion to penetrate its defensive system, while Qatari national team goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham was responsible for saving his goal from some attempts.
Al-Arabi team, which came in fifth place last season, suffered its first defeat this season with its coach Younis Ali, which caused it to drop to twelfth and last place, and its fans came out angry at the situation of their team, whose balance stopped at only two points.
At Al Bayt Stadium, Al Gharafa did not give Al Rayyan the chance to avenge last season’s loss, specifically in March 2023, by three clean goals, after the teammates of former Real Madrid striker Joselu turned their one-goal deficit into victory thanks to a brace scored by former Steaua Bucharest player Florinel Coman.
Al Gharafa, who inflicted the second defeat on Al Rayyan this season, reached four points, regaining their balance after stumbling in the previous round against runner-up Al Ahli.
Al Rayyan fans seemed dissatisfied with their team’s situation and the disappointing performance, as they put it, as the team dropped to eighth place on the standings.
At Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Al Wakrah knew how to survive Al Shahaniya’s hurdle, achieving its first victory this season under the leadership of its new Spanish coach, Miguel Angel.
Former Partizan Belgrade player Ricardo Gomez was able to give the team that won the Qatar Cup 2024 victory by scoring the only goal of the match, recording his first official goal with Al Wakrah, to which he moved from Al Shamal.
As for Al-Shahaniya, its Spanish coach, Alvaro Mejia, was hoping to keep his team’s record free of losses, but luck was not on his side.
At Al Thumama Stadium, Al Ahli held on to second place and continued to chase Al Duhail, the leader, by beating Al Khor 2-1 in a match in which former Paris Saint-Germain player Julian Draxler continued to shine after opening the scoring for his team.
Al Khor almost came out with a valuable point, but Croatian coach Igor Biscan brought in substitute Abdulrahman Mohammed, who was able to give Al Ahli a full score, keeping them two points behind the leaders Al Duhail.
Al Khor suffered its first defeat this season with its coach Abdullah Mubarak, dropping to tenth place with two points, on goal difference behind Al Shahaniya and Al Arabi.
At Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium, Qatar got rid of their negative results crisis and were able to cross Al Shamal thanks to a goal scored by the new arrival Ahmed Abdel Qader, who came from Al Ahly of Egypt, in his first appearance.
Congolese Ben Malango wasted a chance to double the score for Qatar by missing a penalty kick after Al Shamal goalkeeper Babacar Seck saved it.
Qatar jumped to ninth place after obtaining their first three points this season, while the teammates of Algerian striker Baghdad Bounedjah were unable to make up for their loss in the previous round, as the team of Portuguese coach Nuno Almeida suffered their second consecutive defeat.
In terms of digital statistics, the third round of the Ooredoo Stars League saw 14 goals scored at a rate of 2.3 goals per match, compared to 18 goals scored in the previous round.
All six matches ended in a win without a draw, and the round witnessed the first win for each of: Qatar, Al-Gharafa and Al-Wakrah.
Three matches ended with the same result (1-0), and two matches also ended with the same result (2-1).
The Al Sadd and Al Arabi match scored the highest number of goals (5 goals), and Al Sadd, Al Duhail, Qatar SC and Al Wakrah kept clean sheets.
Al Sadd’s Spanish player Rafa Mujica managed to score his second hat-trick this season against Al Arabi. The first hat-trick was scored by Al Duhail’s Kenyan striker Michael Olunga against Qatar SC in the first round.
The round witnessed the scoring of one penalty kick, scored by the Spanish Rafa Mujica, Al Sadd player, against Al Arabi, while the Congolese Ben Malango, Qatar player, missed a second penalty kick against Al Shamal.
The yellow card was shown 24 times, while the red card appeared for the first time this season, and it was given to Al-Shahaniya player Hossam Kamal during his team’s match against Al-Wakra.
In terms of overall statistics, 18 matches have been played so far (13 wins and 5 draws), 50 goals have been scored in 18 matches at a rate of 2.8 goals per match, and 74 yellow cards have been raised compared to one red card.
Thanks to his hat-trick against Al Arabi, the Spaniard Rafael Mujica “Al Sadd” climbed to the top of the scorers list with 5 goals, ahead of the Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah, the Al Shamal striker, who failed to score in this round and his tally stopped at 4 goals.
Kenyan Michael Olunga, Al Duhail striker, came third with three goals, followed by Almoez Ali (Al Duhail) and his teammate Ismail Mohamed, Omar Seko (Al Ahli), Romanian Florinel Coman (Al Gharafa), and Algerian Victor Lekhal (Umm Salal) with two goals each.
Al Duhail topped the teams’ standings with nine points, two points ahead of Al Ahli, who came in second with 7 points. Al Sadd came in third with 6 points, Al Wakrah came in fourth with 5 points, and Al Gharafa came in fifth with 4 points.
Al Shamal came in sixth place with 3 points, equal with Umm Salal, Al Rayyan and Qatar, while Al Khor came in tenth place with two points, ahead on goal difference of Al Shahaniya in eleventh place and Al Arabi in twelfth and last place.
The fourth round matches will start on September 13, when the league will be suspended due to the Qatari national team participating in the third and decisive round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Al Rayyan will play against Al Shahaniya, Al Wakrah against Al Duhail, and Al Sadd against Umm Salal.
The tour concludes on the 14th of the same month with Al Gharafa vs. Al Shamal, Qatar vs. Al Ahli, and Al Arabi vs. Al Khor.