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Ayeni Olusegun
Doha
Baghdad Bounedjah bagged a brace as Al Sadd crushed Al Duhail 4-0 to lift the Qatar Cup trophy on Friday.
Nam Tae Hee and Akram Afif also found the net as Xavi Hernandez's side put to bed concerns over their current form and news of Xavi's departure to Barcelona.
It was largely a one-sided final much to the surprise of many as defending champions Al Duhail were clearly rocked by Al Sadd's high-pressing style.
Al Sadd showed their intent from the kickoff as South Korean midfielder Nam headed home from close range five minutes in after a lovely cross from Pedro Miguel picked.
Al Sadd dominated possession and the pressure soon bore fruit again as a defensive howler from Mehdi Benatia and goalkeeper Amine Lecomte gifted The Wolves the second.
A simple possession led to a needless back-pass by Benatia but Lecomte's clearance from just inside the six-yard box, struck Bounedja before rolling into the net in the 21st minute.
Al Duhail had a brief spell of possession but only managed their first shot on target 30 minutes in as Saad al Dosari gathered Almoez Ali's effort from outside the box.
Al Duhail were soon dealt a blow though when Ismail Mohamad was forced after appearing to hurt his hamstring and was replaced by new boy Han Kwang-song.
It was all Al Sadd and Boualem Khoukhi almost made it three with a looping header but Lecomte was able to punch out.
Bounedjah soon made it three however just before the half time whistle. The Algerian exchanged passes with Nam and easily turned in his marker before sending a curling effort into the top corner.
"It's unfortunate how we lost especially conceding the second goal like that. The third goal, how we conceded also took the life out of us. It's normal when you concede the third goal to be down. But in the second half the players were mentally low.
We are still a team that fight to win. We had a bad day against Al Sadd, we gave away two soft goals but the season is long," Al Duhail assistant coach Bruno Oliveira said after the match.
Al Sadd came out blazing in the second half and Afif made it four from the spot. The striker was brought down in the box by Mohammed Mousa who he easily beat for pace down the left. Afif stepped up to the spot and sent Lecomte the wrong way.
Al Duhail's marquee signing Mario Mandzukic had a frustrating evening as he hardly saw the ball and his one opportunity resulted in a good save from Al Dosari.
"Amazing performance by the team and I am very happy, especially for the players who played really well," Xavi who won his second trophy as manager said.
"The semi-final and the final of the Qatar Cup have been our best matches this season and it is amazing for us to win a second trophy this year," the Spaniard added.
Doha
Baghdad Bounedjah bagged a brace as Al Sadd crushed Al Duhail 4-0 to lift the Qatar Cup trophy on Friday.
Nam Tae Hee and Akram Afif also found the net as Xavi Hernandez's side put to bed concerns over their current form and news of Xavi's departure to Barcelona.
It was largely a one-sided final much to the surprise of many as defending champions Al Duhail were clearly rocked by Al Sadd's high-pressing style.
Al Sadd showed their intent from the kickoff as South Korean midfielder Nam headed home from close range five minutes in after a lovely cross from Pedro Miguel picked.
Al Sadd dominated possession and the pressure soon bore fruit again as a defensive howler from Mehdi Benatia and goalkeeper Amine Lecomte gifted The Wolves the second.
A simple possession led to a needless back-pass by Benatia but Lecomte's clearance from just inside the six-yard box, struck Bounedja before rolling into the net in the 21st minute.
Al Duhail had a brief spell of possession but only managed their first shot on target 30 minutes in as Saad al Dosari gathered Almoez Ali's effort from outside the box.
Al Duhail were soon dealt a blow though when Ismail Mohamad was forced after appearing to hurt his hamstring and was replaced by new boy Han Kwang-song.
It was all Al Sadd and Boualem Khoukhi almost made it three with a looping header but Lecomte was able to punch out.
Bounedjah soon made it three however just before the half time whistle. The Algerian exchanged passes with Nam and easily turned in his marker before sending a curling effort into the top corner.
"It's unfortunate how we lost especially conceding the second goal like that. The third goal, how we conceded also took the life out of us. It's normal when you concede the third goal to be down. But in the second half the players were mentally low.
We are still a team that fight to win. We had a bad day against Al Sadd, we gave away two soft goals but the season is long," Al Duhail assistant coach Bruno Oliveira said after the match.
Al Sadd came out blazing in the second half and Afif made it four from the spot. The striker was brought down in the box by Mohammed Mousa who he easily beat for pace down the left. Afif stepped up to the spot and sent Lecomte the wrong way.
Al Duhail's marquee signing Mario Mandzukic had a frustrating evening as he hardly saw the ball and his one opportunity resulted in a good save from Al Dosari.
"Amazing performance by the team and I am very happy, especially for the players who played really well," Xavi who won his second trophy as manager said.
"The semi-final and the final of the Qatar Cup have been our best matches this season and it is amazing for us to win a second trophy this year," the Spaniard added.
