Al Duhail's Michael Olunga celebrates after scoring a goal.
Doha: Michael Olunga’s brace helped Al Duhail secure a 2-0 win over Al Arabi in the QNB Stars League yesterday. The former champions are just three points behind leaders Al Sadd, but have played two games more than their rivals.
Al Sadd’s match against Qatar SC, which was scheduled for Friday, was postponed due to outbreak of coronavirus in the Wolves camp. Their match against Al Wakrah was also deferred due to the same reason couple of weeks back.
Kenyan striker Olunga scored his goals in the fourth and 48th minutes, which took Duhail’s tally to 29 points as they consolidated their second place. Al Arabi remain fourth with 20 points after their fifth defeat.
Duhail grabbed an early lead through Olunga, who took advantage of Almoez Ali’s pass after the Al Arabi defence failed to clear the ball. And Olunga hit the ball home to the right of goalkeeper Sataa Al Abbasi.
Al Arabi started showing better cohesion and almost scored the equaliser in the 12th minute, but Abdullah Marafih hit his shot against the right post. Al Duhail then exerted pressure on the rival defence and, in the 35th minute, Edmilson fired a powerful shot from inside the penalty area, which was brilliantly saved by Al Abbasi, conceding a corner kick.
The second half was full of excitement and Al Duhail soon added a second goal, again through Olunga, who received Mohamed Alaaeldin’s cross from the right before finding the target. In the 68th minute, Al Arabi’s Abdulrahman Fahmy fired a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, but it missed the target.
The match became fast-paced and Al Arabi pressed hard to reduce the margin, but the Al Duhail defence held firm. In the 79th minute, Ahmed Fathy penetrated through the Al Duhail defence and was alone in the goal, but goalkeeper Salah Zakaria came to the rescue.
In another match, Al Khor and Umm Salal played out a 1-1 draw. Ayman Hussein gave Umm Salal ahead in the 63rd minute, but Saeed Brahimi helped Al Khor draw parity in the 79th minute. Umm Salal are fifth with 19 points, while Al Khor are 11th on nine points.
