Al Wakrah's Omar Salah (left) in action during the QSL Cup Group B match against Al Khor yesterday.
Doha: A superb hat-trick by Omar Salah yesterday propelled Al Wakrah to a huge 5-1 victory over Al Khor as Al Shamal edged defending champions Umm Salal 2-1 in the QSL Cup.
The Blue Wave started their Group B opener at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium in a dominant fashion and they were soon rewarded for their attacking display when Salah scored his first goal in 12th minute, benefiting from a rebound after Al Khor goalkeeper Ali Nader blocked Nasser Al Yazidi’s initial attempt.
He struck his second goal just four minutes later after picking a brilliant long ball from Abdelkarim Hassan to beat Nader on his third attempt after the goalkeeper had stopped his first two shots.
Al Khor responded through Fares Saeed Amer to cut the lead the next minute but it turned out it was all they had in the store last evening.
Salah completed his hat-trick in 45th minute taking full advantage of Al Khor’s sloppy defence firing the ball on top of the net before Al Wakrah scored twice in the second half.
Mohamed Khaled Hassan (51st minute) and Al Yazidi (53rd minute) found the net after the break to wrap up a dominant victory.
Later at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, Mohamad Omar opened the scoring for Al Shamal in 41st minute with Mohammad Naser Al Mannai extending their lead in 61st minute.
Antonio Mance scored for Umm Salal in fifth minute of stoppage time.
On Friday, Al Rayyan, Al Arabi and Al Duhail secured victories in their opening Group A matches. Captain Rodrigo Tabata’s hit from the spot handed Al Rayyan win over Al Shahania in the tournament opener while Luiz Martin scored in the second half to steer Al Arabi to a victory against Al Ahli.
Al Duhail fought hard to beat Qatar SC 2-1 to extend their winning run this season, having claimed three straight victories in the Ooredoo Stars League.
The second round of the QSL Cup will begin on September 6.
