Olunga thrilled to open new season with a goal as Al Duhail begin title defence in winning fashion

© Michael Olunga Facebook.

STARS ABROAD Olunga thrilled to open new season with a goal as Al Duhail begin title defence in winning fashion

Joel Omotto 08:24 - 19.08.2023

The Harambee Stars captain wasted no time to announce his intentions of going for a third straight Golden Boot Award as he opened the scoring in Al Duhail’s win over Al Ahli

Harambee Stars captain Michael Olunga was thrilled to have opened his season with a goal as Al Duhail got their Qatar Stars League title defence of to a 2-1 win over Al Ahli on Friday night.

Olunga took less time to announce his presence when he scored the opening goal in the 22nd minute, with Al Duhail taking a 1-0 lead at the break, before new signing Ibrahima Diallo added a second two minutes after the interval.

Al Ahli threatened a comeback when Islam Yassine reduced the arrears in the 54th minute but Al Duhail stayed firm to collect all the three points in their 2023-24 season-opener.

“Great start of the season. +3points and a goal. Kaende Kaende,” Olunga posted online, before adding: “Mungu ni mwema (God is great).”

It is just the start that Olunga and his side were looking for after their brilliant campaign last season when they won three trophies including the league title.

Olunga had been in fine form in pre-season when he has scored in two of their three pre-season matches.

He opened the scoring for Al Duhail in their 3-2 victory over Lusail City FC in a friendly match before they left for pre-season camp to Austria and scored a brace when they thrashed Austria Heiming 6-0 last Wednesday.

Coach Hernan Crespo will be depending on him again this season as his side bid to retain their league title and push further in the Asian Champions League after reaching the semi-final in 2022-23.

Olunga had an impressive 2022-23 season, winning back-to-back Golden Boot awards, after bagging 22 goals while claiming his first Qatar Stars League title.

The striker was also the top scorer in the Ooredoo Cup with 10 goals, when Al-Duhail lifted the trophy, as well as the Qatar Cup, ending the season with 40 goals from 38 games in all competitions.