Asian Champions League: Olunga scores eighth goal as Al Duhail lose
Duhail's forward Michael Olunga (centre) celebrates his goal with teammates during the AFC Champions League group C match between Saudi's Al-Ahli and Qatar's Al-Duhail on April 18, 2021, at the King Abdullah sport city stadium in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
What you need to know:
- He went into this fixture three goals ahead of Cheick Diabate (Esteghlal), Luciano Pereira (Foolad) and Omar Al Somah (Al Ahli Saudi).
- The record for the most goals scored in the Asian Champions League is 13 and is jointly held by Brazilians Muriqui (Guangzhou Evergrande, 2013) and Adriano (FC Seoul, 2016) and Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd, 2018).
Kenyan international Michael Olunga fired his eighth goal in 2021 Asian Champions League (West Region), but it was not enough to rescue 10-man Al Duhail from the jaws of defeat after Al Shorta ran out 2-1 winners in their Group "C" fixture in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night.
Coach Sabri Lamouchi's men, who were undefeated going into their fifth fixture and looking to tighten their grip at the top, were shocked with a thrid minute goal from midfielder Amjad Attwan.
Although the Qatari giants would go on to dominate possession (61-39) and attempted shots (7-2) in the first half, the Iraqi side protected their lead until Olunga leveled the scores from an Almoez Ali assist just before the hour mark.
Al Shorta then fought back to collect maximum points and a first win in the group after Mohammed Yaseen's late winner. As if that was not enough pain, Al Duhail went on to finish the match with 10 men after defender Medhi Benatia saw red in injury time.
This result leaves Al Duhail with eight points, hanging by a thread to qualify automatically for the knockout stage as they need to win their last group stage match against hosts Al Ahli Saudi on April 30.
Al Duhail had a good run after collecting wins against Al Shorta (2-0) on April 15 and Esteghlal (4-3) and draws against Al Ahli Saudi (1-1) on April 18 and Esteghlal (2-2) April 24 inspired by goals from Olunga.
The Kenyan centre-forward scored seven goals in the first four matches including a hat-trick against Esteghlal, although his first Champions League goal against Al Shorta on April 15 had been initially registered as an own goal from defender Husam Kadhim.
The 27-year-old Olunga, who bagged 2020 top scorer and Player of the year while playing for Kashiwa Reysol in Japan, currently tops the scoring charts with eight goals.
He went into this fixture three goals ahead of Cheick Diabate (Esteghlal), Luciano Pereira (Foolad) and Omar Al Somah (Al Ahli Saudi).
The record for the most goals scored in the Asian Champions League is 13 and is jointly held by Brazilians Muriqui (Guangzhou Evergrande, 2013) and Adriano (FC Seoul, 2016) and Baghdad Bounedjah (Al Sadd, 2018).
