Baghdad Bounedjah netted a brace as Al Shamal defeated Umm Salal 4-0 in Week 13 of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Al Khor Stadium on Friday.

Bounedjah (12th-minute penalty and 45+2 minute), Naim Sliti (26th minute) and Younes Belhanda (50th-minute penalty) scored to help Al Shamal move on to 19 points. Umm Salal remained on 14 points.

Al Shamal gave an inkling of what to expect from them as early as the fourth minute of play when Belhanda tested the reflexes of goalkeeper Louay Ashour with a stinging shot from 25 yards out, but the shot-stopper was up to the task as he rose gallantly to deny what was a goal-bound attempt.

Four minutes later, Al Shamal got the opportunity they had been looking for after Umm Salal’s Edidiong Essien fouled Belhanda in the 18-yard box and the resultant spot-kick, awarded after a lengthy VAR check, was unmistakably converted by Bounedjah in the 12th minute to give the hosts the lead.

Umm Salal almost got their equalizer immediately, but Antonio Mance’s right-footed shot from the right side of the box from an assist by Naim Laidouni narrowly missed to the left of the goal.

The Orange Fortress continued their search for an equalizer, but their front three were not clinical enough to put the chances that came their way to bed.

Just when it seemed Umm Salal were on the ascendency, Al Shamal once again changed the narrative in the 26th minute with Sliti scoring a brilliant goal, chipping the goalie following a fast break, to make it two exciting goals for coach David Prat’s men.

Bounedjah got his second of the evening, and Al Shamal’s third, a minute into added time when a diagonal pass by Sliti met the Algerian international striker in an unmarked position. He wasted no time in firing home a left-footed shot that went right past the outstretched arms of Ashour, ensuring a very comfortable lead going into half-time.

Al Shamal continued from where they stopped in the second half with Mohammed Al Mannai drawing a foul, conceded by Victor Lekhal, which Belhanda got right from the spot in the 50th minute to give Al Shamal an unassailable 4-0 lead.

Obvious of the almost impossible task of turning things around from thereon, Umm Salal tried to firm up their defence in an attempt to ensure they reduce their chances of further conceding, which gave Al Shamal the opportunity to up their pressure, and with each passing minute, Al Shamal’s chances of adding more goals seemed to get brighter as more of the chances fell to them, but Ashour’s brilliance between the sticks prevented what could have been a harvest of goals.

Umm Salal appeared to get their mojo back in the later minutes of the match, but despite their attempts, they could not reduce the deficit in any way as Al Shamal ensured that the maximum points and a clean sheet were theirs in the end.