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Al Duhail storm Asia Champions League Round 16

Michael Olunga

Al Duhail's Michael Olunga (left) and teammates celebrate a goal in their 3-0 win against Pakhtakor in their Asian Champions League on April 18, 2022 in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia

Photo credit: Pool

By  Geoffrey Anene

Reporter

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

  • Al Duhail trailed 1-3 at half-time but dug deep in the second half to edge out Al Taawoun 4-3 in the Group “D” fixture played in Saudi Arabia on Friday night
  • Al Duhail, who narrowly missed entering Round of 16 last season when Olunga won the Golden Boot on nine goals, are top in Group 'D' with 12 points
  • Coach Hernan Crespo’s charges will complete their group stage assignments against Sepahan on April 26

Michael Olunga Friday provided an assist as Al Duhail came from behind to stun hosts Al Taawoun 4-3 and qualify for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Round 16 with a match to spare. 

Al Duhail trailed 1-3 at half-time but dug deep in the second half to edge out Al Taawoun in the Group “D” fixture played in Saudi Arabia on Friday night.

Karim Boudiaf gave the Qatari giants the lead on 11 minutes from a header before Taawoun replied with a brace from Leandre Tawamba, either side of Hassan Al-Amr goal.

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Al Duhail playmaker Edmilson Junior reduced the gap to 3-2 on 58 minutes before the Belgian leveled from the spot in the 84th minute after an Al Taawoun player handled the ball in his box.

Olunga then headed a corner from Edmilson into the path of captain Almoez Ali who made no mistake to plant a solid header past goalkeeper Moataz Al Baqaawi for a sweet revenge as they had lost 2-1 in their opening match on April 7.

Before the match, Olunga had expressed his confidence in Al Duhail’s ability to win and advance to the next round and it came to pass.

The 28-year-old said, “I was absent in the first match against Al-Taawoun due to injury. Now, I am among the options of the technical staff. I will certainly work to help my team win, but in general, everyone is ready for this match, and we will enter the stadium to win and ensure qualification.”

Al Duhail, who narrowly missed entering Round of 16 last season when Olunga won the Golden Boot on nine goals, are top in Group 'D' with 12 points.

Their other wins were against Iranian side Sepahan (1-0) on April 10, Uzbekistan champions Pakhtakor Tashkent (3-2) on April 14 and (3-0) on April 18.

Coach Hernan Crespo’s charges will complete their group stage assignments against Sepahan on April 26. Sepahan revived their hopes of reaching the knockout phase by beating Pakhtakor 2-1 with goals from Sajjad Shahbazzadeh.

Shahbazzadeh put Sepahan 1-0 up on 76 minutes but Pakhtakor responded almost immediately through Khojiakbar Alidjanov three minutes later. Shahbazzadeh then scored the winner in injury time.

Al Taawoun and Sepahan are tied on seven points but the Saudi Arabian side have a better goal difference. Pakhtakor is already eliminated, having picked three points from five matches.

Winners of the 10 groups along with six second-placed best losers will proceed to Round 16.

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