Kenya’s Olunga on target as Al Duhail SC defeat Al Gharafa to lift Emir Cup

Kenya striker Michael Olunga clinched his first trophy since arriving in Qatar after helping Al Duhail SC defeat Al Gharafa 5-1 in the final of the Emir Cup at Khalifa International Stadium on Friday night.

The first half of the match ended with Duhail taking a 2-0 advantage, the first goal coming from Edmilson Da Silva in the fifth minute after unleashing a shot from inside the penalty area before the lanky Olunga grabbed the second in the 18th minute.

In the second half, Duhail continued to control the match and scored the third goal, which came from Al Moez Ali in the 52nd minute before Gharafa reduced the deficit through Ahmed Alaa in the 53rd minute, but Tunisian international Ferjani Sassi added the fourth in the 58th minute.

Abdeirahman Moustafa then scored the fifth goal in the 85th minute to help Duhail end the season with a trophy, having missed out on the Qatar Stars League title which was won by rivals Al Sadd a week ago.

It was Duhail, who defeated Al Sadd 3-2 in the semi-finals, who started the final with a lot of urgency and it was no surprise when Da Silva combined well with Olunga before slotting the ball past Gharafa goalkeeper Yousef Hassan for the opener.

Olunga, who finished the season as the top scorer with 24 goals, then doubled Duhail’s lead after racing to meet a cross from Nam Tae-hee before finding the back of the net with an easy tap in.

It was all Duhail in the second period and they did not take time to stretch their lead as Ali finished off a great pass from Da Silva and made it 3-0. Gharafa tried to come into the game when Alaa took advantage of a defensive mix-up inside Duhail’s dangerzone to score past goalkeeper Salah Zakaria.

However, six minutes later Sassi restored Duhail’s advantage before Moustafa wrapped up the huge win with only five minutes left to the final whistle.

This is the first trophy for the 27-year-old Harambee Star, who moved to the former league champions from Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol in January 2021 after penning a three-year contract for a reported transfer fee of €6 million.

Apart from winning the league’s top scorers’ award, the former Gor Mahia striker also won the 2021 Asian Champions League top scorer award and he has been nominated for the Qatar Super League MVP.