Eleven-time Qatar league champions Al Sadd hammered Al Shamal 5-0 in their opening Qatar Stars Cup match on Thursday.

Al Sadd opened the scoring in the Group A encounter through their Brazilian striker Afonso Alves who broke the deadlock after 25 minutes when he received a pass from his compatriot Leandro da Silva before firing a powerful shot home from just inside the area.

Da Silva turned from provider to scorer five minutes later when he received a cross from Hamoud Al Yazidi, who added the third goal just one minute into the second half. Da Silva scored his second goal on the night in the 79th minute after an individual effort before completing his hat-trick in the second minute of stoppage time to steer Al Sadd to a big win.

Elsewhere, Qatar SC suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Al Siliya who owe their win to Brazilian Roger Flores who scored the winning goal on 75 minutes. In another Group A match, AFC Champions League semi-finalists Umm Salal suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Al Arabi.

Umm Salal, who fielded their second side, fell behind five minutes after the hour mark when Ali Mejbel opened the scoring for Al Arabi. He grabbed a second on 76 minutes through Mohamad Salem Al Mal before Mejbel sealed the win in the first minute of stoppage time.