Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Doha: Brazilian Nilmar scored a hattrick as AFC Champions League 2013 participating Al Rayyan hammered rock-bottom Al Sailiya 7-3 in the Qatar Stars League on Saturday.
Nilmar (Honorato Da Silva) completed his hattrick in the 90th minute after scoring his first two goals in the 16th and 20th minute. Rodrigo Tabata opened the goal feast in the 13th minute as Rayyan were 3-1 up in the first half.
Struggling Sailiya bounced back in the match with two goals in quick successions as they made it 3-2 with just less than half an hour remaining in the match. However, Abudlkarim Salem restored Rayyan’s lead in the 64th minute. The last three Rayyan goals came in the last ten minutes which saw Tabata firing his second and Nilmar completing his hattrick.
After registering their ninth win in the season, Al Rayyan are at the fourth place of the league with 29 points from 16 matches. ACL 2011 champions Al Sadd lead the table with 40 points.
The one of the four Qatari representatives in ACL 2013, Al Rayyan, are in a difficult Group D where they face UAE Pro League champions Al Ain, Tehran giants Esteghlal and Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia with their first outing being a home match against Esteghlal.