Al Wakrah made light work of Al Markhiya by scoring a 3-0 win in Week 4 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Al Janoub Stadium on Sunday.

Hamdi Fathi (10th minute), Jacinto Dala (55th minute) and substitute Yousef Al Khatib (88th minute) scored the goals.

Their second win of the new season saw The Blue Wave move on to eight points, while Al Markhiya have yet to open their account.

Clearly, Al Wakrah were superior in the match and were sent into the lead by Hamdi after a tussle for the ball inside the ‘D’. He picked on a pass to strike from the centre into the bottom left corner beating a defender.

A minute later, Al Markhiya’s Moayad Hassan in a counter move made a right-footed shot from the centre of the box, but missed the top right corner.

Soon, Al Wakrah hit back and Jacinto shaped for a threatening strike, but his shot from the right of the box was well-saved in the centre of the goal by Al Markhiya goalkeeper Louay Sherif Ashour.

As both sides traded attacks in a fast-paced game, there were fouls committed and, in the 40th minute, Al Markhiya’s Abdelghani Laallam conceded a penalty after a foul in the danger area. But to his team’s luck, Mohamed Benyettou could not capitalize on the spot-kick as his shot was saved in the left bottom corner by the goalkeeper.

Al Wakrah came back charging in the second session and soon Dala produced a fine goal with a sudden burst from 20 yards outside the box to the right. He broke past two defenders to strike and beat the goalkeeper.

Al Markhiya’s big chance came in the 60th minute when Rochinha picked on a good Ali Nasser Al Marri pass to make a right-footed shot from just outside the box, but he missed the target a little to the right.

In the 76th minute, Al Markhiya’s Driss Fettouhi missed the top right corner from a direct free-kick.

Al Wakrah added their third and final goal minutes from full time as Hamdi won the ball after a tussle inside the penalty area and passed it on to Yousef Al Khatib who lobbed it into the far corner.