Doha: Rafa Mújica helped himself to a hat trick as Al Sadd walloped Al Gharafa 4-0 in the Week 17 summit clash of the 2024-2025 season Ooredoo Stars League at the Thani Bin Jassim Stadium of Al Gharafa club on Thursday.
Mújica’s goals came in the 55th minute, 70th minute and 77th minute respectively, after Akram Afif had opened the scoring in the 25th minute to ensure Al Sadd moved clear of Al Gharafa on 37 points while their opponents remained on 34 points.
Al Sadd, who came into the match breathing down the neck of league leaders Al Duhail, started the high-pressing match with great intensity, and they had two good attempts at goal within the first seven minutes of play—first with Youcef Atal in the fourth minute, whose right-footed shot from the right side of the box went just inches wide, and later through Mújica, who also failed to hit the right target with the clear opportunity he had.
Unsurprisingly, The Wolves need not wait for too long, as Afif sensationally gave them the opener in the 25th minute with a right-footer from a difficult angle that went through the legs of goalkeeper Khalifa Ndiaye following a great pass from Atal.
Not deterred by the deficit, The Cheetahs braced themselves and began their earnest search for an instant equaliser but the rock-solid defence of their opponents staved off every attempt of theirs.
The away team almost doubled their lead in the 39th minute through Paulo Otávio, but there was too much power to his left-footed shot as he sent the ball flying just a little higher than expected.
The Spanish star had a great opportunity to balance the books for Al Gharafa in one minute of added time, but he was caught offside just prior to shooting at goal, ensuring that the first half ended with the advantage to Al Sadd.
A splendid overlapping run by Afif in the 55th minute ended with a well-timed, precise pass to Mújica, who did well to fend off the last man in Al Gharafa’s defence before sliding a low shot past Ndiaye to double the lead for Al Sadd, who came into the second half on the ascendancy.
Al Gharafa had to rue their luck in the 59th minute when Yacine Brahimi disappointingly sent the ball flying when he was perfectly set up by Abdalla Yousif for what could have been their goal to the surprise of both the bench and fans.
While Al Gharafa missed their chance, Al Sadd took theirs 11 minutes later as Mujica got his brace of the night with the Spaniard taking advantage of the rebound from Claudinho’s powerful shot, with a hapless Ndiaye unable to make a second save.
Mujica ensured he completed his hat trick in the 77th minute before being yanked off a minute later by coach Felix Sanchez, marking a memorable night for the 26-year-old former Las Palmas player as Al Sadd sauntered to an unassailable 4-0 lead.
A frustrated Al Gharafa were reduced to ten men with three minutes remaining of regulation time as Seydou Sano got the marching orders for a professional foul. The sending off, however, did not make much difference as Al Sadd were content with their four unreplied goals lead as the match ended with the scoreline unchanged.
