All hail the Engineer! Olunga wins Qatar Stars League 'Golden Boot'
Al Duhail's Kenyan striker Michael Olunga in action during their Qatari League Stars match against Al Ahli Doha on March 10, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Rodrigo Tabata converted a late penalty to hand Al Sadd their 20th victory of the season.
Michael Olunga is officially the 2021-2022 Qatar Stars League (QSL) Golden Boot winner after six months of action ended on Friday with the Kenyan on top on the scoring chart with 24 goals.
His closest challenger Ghanaian striker Andre Ayew needed to score 10 goals for champions Al Sadd against Al Wakrah to pip Harambee Stars captain Olunga but fired blanks in the 2-1 win for the hosts at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium.
The former Swansea and West Ham United player finished the season with 15 goals.
Team-mates Akram Afif and last season’s top scorer Baghdad Bounedjah netted 14 and 13 goals respectively.
On Friday, Khouki Boualem scored for Al Sadd on 19 minutes from a tight angle with a cool finish from corner-kick. Al Wakrah equalised five minutes after the break through Saleh Halabi from a fierce shot deflected by an Al Sadd defender.
Rodrigo Tabata converted a late penalty to hand Al Sadd their 20th victory of the season.
In the early kick-off at Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium on Friday, hosts Al Rayyan led 2-0 at the half hour mark with goals from Hashim Ali and Yacine Brahimi at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium. Al Shamal levelled 2-2 through Ali Olwan and and own goal from Mohammed Juma before Yohan Boli netted Al Rayyan’s winner with 15 minutes left.
Al Sadd retained the title undefeated after amassing 62 points in the 12-team league.
They only dropped points in identical 1-1 draws against second finishers Al Duhail (47).
Al Wakrah (37), Al Arabi (36) and Al Gharafa (30) completed the top-five bracket.
Umm Salal (25 points), Al Ahli Doha (25), Al Rayyan (24), Qatar (23), Al Shamal (22), Al Sailiya (16) and Al Khor (16) occupied the last seven places.
Al Khor were automatically relegated for being last.
Al Sadd and Al Duhail qualified for 2022-2023 Asian Champions League for finishing QSL in the first two spots. These two are also scheduled to meet in the Amir Cup semi-finals on March 14.
Last round league results: March 10 – Al Duhail 0 Al Ahli Doha 0, Umm Salal 0 Al Arabi 2, Qatar SC 0 Al Khor 1, Al Sailiya 3 Al Gharafa 2; March 11 – Al Rayyan 3 Al Shamal 2, Al Sadd vs Al Wakrah.
