Michael Olunga fires Al Duhail into Amir Cup final
Al Duhail's Michael Olunga (left) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Al Sadd during their Amir Cup semi-final match on March 14, 2022 at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.
What you need to know:
- The win means that a new champion will be crowned this year. It gives 2021 Asian Champions League Golden Boot winner Olunga the chance of getting his first peice of silverware in Qatar.
- Al Duhail will face Al Gharafa in the final on March 18. Al Gharafa defeated Al Wakrah 4-1 to qualify for the Amir Cup final for the first time since 2012.
Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga ended his two-match goal-drought in the Amir Cup as his Al Duhail side bundled out defending champions Al Sadd 3-2 to march into the final at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Monday.
Al Duhail led 2-1 at the break thanks to goals from Ferjani Sassi and Olunga after a first half dominated by defending champions Al Sadd in the semi-final encounter.
Olunga had not scored in Al Duhail’s 4-2 victory over Al Khor 4-2 in the Round of 16 on February 15 and the 4-1 quarter-final win against Al Sailiya 4-1 on March 6.
Coach Luis Castro’s Al Duhail survived several scares in the first half, including defender Sultan Al-Brake having to clear off the line on 20 minutes.
The opening goal came from an Al Sadd blind pass outside their box picked up by Qatar Stars League top scorer Olunga before being tucked into the net by Sassi.
Al Duhail then failed to mark Ghanaian captain Andre Ayew, who beat two defenders from the right flank, and cut inside before firing a powerful shot just outside the box past goalkeeper Salah Zakaria on 33 minutes.
Al Sadd almost grabbed the lead four minutes later following a blind pass, but Zakaria made a fine save.
Edmilson then forced Sadd Abdullah al-Sheeb into making a big save. Olunga put Al Duhail 2-1 up in the 44th minute with a fine header off an Edmilson cross from a counter-attack.
Both sides got some decent chances in the second half before Al Sadd 's Pedro got his marching orders on 71 minutes after picking his second yellow card of the match.
The match threatened to get out of hand a few minutes later after Rodrigo Tabata kicked Edmilson on 77 minutes, but the referee was in control.
Sassi made it 3-1 after picking from a corner on 80 minutes. Al Sadd almost got an immediate response, but Baghdad Bounedjah’s shot just slid past the face of the goal.
A free header from Bounedjah in the 90th minute reduced Al Duhail’s lead for a nervy end.
It is the first time Al Duhail have reached the final since 2019 when they defeated Al Sadd 4-1 in the final.
The win means that a new champion will be crowned this year. It gives 2021 Asian Champions League Golden Boot winner Olunga the chance of getting his first peice of silverware in Qatar.
Al Duhail will face Al Gharafa in the final on March 18. Al Gharafa defeated Al Wakrah 4-1 to qualify for the Amir Cup final for the first time since 2012.
