The 27-year-old forward struck in the second half after his team had lost a player due to a red card
Kenya international Michael Olunga scored in the second half to help 10-man Al Duhail SC secure a 1-0 win against Al Shamal in a Qatar Stars League match on Monday.
After a 0-0 result in the first half, it was the lanky Harambee Stars player who stepped up to score from the penalty spot in the 54th minute and help his side bounce back to winning ways having lost their last league assignment.
Duhail came into the match having suffered their first defeat of the season against Al-Wakrah and they started the match at Al Khor Stadium on a positive side as Edmilson Da Silva rattled the woodwork with a ferocious effort from outside the box in the sixth minute.
Another chance for Duhail came in the 23rd minute when a corner from Edmilson was headed towards goal by former Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld but the ball hit the woodwork and bounced back finding an unmarked Olunga, whose left-footed effort cruised over the bar.
In the 48th minute, Duhail suffered a blow after Edmilson, who was playing well until then. He was shown a straight red card after a clumsy tackle on Jeison Medina.
The decision somehow affected Duhail, who resorted to defending and Shamal almost took a shock lead when Medina set up Amjad Attwan with a through ball on goal but the Iraqi striker ruined the opportunity, to allow Duhail goalkeeper Mohammed Al Bakri to pick the pieces.
However, with 36 minutes left to the final whistle, Duhail were awarded a penalty after Al Moez Ali was brought down inside the box and up stepped Olunga, who sent Senegal goalkeeper Hassan Idriss Dicko the wrong way for the goal which turned out to be the winner.
Duhail coach Luis Castro was elated with the outcome of the game stating the team had achieved a well-deserved victory.
“We started the match strongly, but we felt we lost the rhythm of playing, and we had many opportunities to score, but our players did not succeed in reaching the Al-Shamal net despite the opportunities that emerged from inside and outside the penalty area,” Castro told the club’s official website.
“In the second half, we continued to create opportunities to score, and we managed to reach the Al Shamal net through a penalty kick, we also managed to protect our goal, which gave us great moral comfort and despite the shortage, the team fought until the last moment in the match and it is a deserved victory for us and I congratulate the players and loyal fans on this victory.”
The slim win saw Duhail move level on 18 points with leaders Al Sadd, though they have played one match more.
Olunga has managed nine goals so far in this campaign from five appearances and he will hope to keep his starting role when Duhail take on Qatar SC in another league match at Al Khor Stadium on Saturday.
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