Kenya international Michael Olunga was honoured for topping the last Asian Champions League as Al Duhail SC battled to a 1-1 draw against Al Khor in a Qatar Stars League fixture on Tuesday.
Before the start of the match at Grand Hamad Stadium, players from both teams lined up and formed an honorary parade for the Harambee Stars striker to celebrate his coronation with the top scorer title of the AFC Champions League after he managed to score nine goals.
The former Gor Mahia and Tusker striker - who also had 15 shots on target in the campaign - scored the goals in six games and became the first Kenyan and Al Duhail player to win the Asian award.
Against Khor, Olunga did not find the back of the net but it was his move from the left wing that gave Duhail the lead.
The lanky striker dribbled past Khor’s defence before setting up Brazilian Edimilson, whose first-time shot hit the crossbar and bounced back to find Nam Tae-hee, who slotted it home past Senegalese-born goalkeeper Papa Djibril for the opener in the seventh minute.
تكريم هدّاف دوري أبطال آسيا 2021 مايكل أولونغا @OgadaOlunga قبل بداية المباراة ❤️👏#الدحيل #قطر @TheAFCCL @theAFCCL_ar pic.twitter.com/FBIaGSHgFT— نادي الدحيل ALDUHAIL (@DuhailSC) January 4, 2022
However, Duhail could not hold onto the lead as Khor levelled matters in the 32nd minute, Ismail El Hadad, finding space at the far post before unleashing a left-footed effort past goalkeeper Salah Zakaria.
So far this season, the 27-year-old Olunga has managed 13 goals from 10 appearances and raked in 823 minutes of action.
The draw against Khor saw Duhail lose ground on the title race as they remained second on the 12-team table with 26 points from 12 matches, five points fewer than leaders Al Saad, who have played one match less.
Duhail coach Luis Castro was left frustrated with the draw but insisted they deserved to win the game.
“Al Duhail controlled the match completely and the result does not represent our strong performance in the stadium, we had 13 chances to score, and Al Khor only had five chances to score throughout the match,” Castro said as quoted by the club’s official website.
“We had 94 dangerous attacks on Al Khor, and they had 31 attacks on our goal throughout the match.
“Our possession of the ball was 75 percent throughout the match. In the first half we made a mistake and we made Al Khor score the equaliser goal, and the display does not represent the result because we entered the match to achieve victory but unfortunately, we could not score. Al Khor played with five defenders and this made it difficult on us.”
Olunga and Duhail will return to action on Saturday when they face Al Arabi at Grand Hamad Stadium.