Job Ochieng: 5 Historic Feats by Harambee Stars Winger in Man of the of The Match Show at Elche

Harambee Stars winger Job Ochieng is reveling in his Man of the Match display that saw him help his club Real Sociedad to a 3-2 win over Elche in La Liga on Monday.

Ochieng scored and provided a couple of assists as Sociedad almost let a two-goal lead slip away before they recovered to win while playing the final 30 minutes with 10 men.

The Kenyan winger scored after 11 minutes and then created the second for his team in 31st minute before Elche levelled matters after Sociedad had a man sent off but he would set up the winner in the 90th minute.

Following the game, Ochieng achieved a number of historic feats which sets him up well as he begins his career in the Spanish top flight.

Ochieng made his La Liga debut last season, when he played two games, but at the time, he was still playing for the Real Sociedad B team.

However, this term, he has been promoted to the senior team and on his second appearance of the season, he scored his debut goal in the Spanish top flight.

Ochieng scored 10 goals and provided five assists in 67 games for the second-string side but now as a full La Liga player, he is up and running.

While he is the third Kenyan to play in La Liga after McDonald Mariga and Michael Olunga, none of those scored and assisted in the Spanish top flight.

Olunga scored in La Liga for Girona in January 2018 but Ochieng has made his own bit of history by scoring and assisting in the Spanish league, putting him in a class of his own.

Following his impressive show, Ochieng was awarded the Man of the Match award after getting a rating of over 9 for his goal and two assists.

Certainly, the first of many to come, it is his maiden in the top flight and he joins Olunga as the Kenyans who have achieved that feat in La Liga.

Ochieng also joined Olunga as the only Kenyans to have scored in La Liga. In January 2018, Olunga came off the bench to score a hat-trick in 22 minutes against Las Palmas while playing on loan at Girona.

Ochieng’s goal therefore came 3,160 days after his Harambee Stars captain’s historic feat and he has a chance to score many more.

At 23 years and 233 days, Ochieng also became the youngest Real Sociedad player to be directly involved in three goals in a La Liga match.

The last player to achieve that feat was now Liverpool striker Alexander Isak, who did that against Alaves in February 2021, aged 21 years and 153 days.