Red-hot Olunga scores again as Kashiwa maul Yokohama

Kenyan International Michael Olunga scored a brace as Kashiwa Reysol beat Yokohama FC 3-0 in a J1 League match at the Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium in Yokohama on Saturday.

The former Gor Mahia striker opened the scoring four minutes into the match and the team held on to the slim lead until the 76th minute when he doubled the lead with a well-taken volley following a perfectly-weighted pass from Naoki Kawagachi.

Japanese midfielder Hidekazu Otani finished the job with a goal just before the final whistle.

This is Olunga’s fourth brace of the season and takes his tally to 19 goals so far this season – making him the leading scorer in the J1 League.

Kashiwa Reysol is now seventh on the J1 standings with 33 points from 20 matches and will face Yokohama F. Marinos in a domestic cup match on Wednesday.

National team duty

Olunga is among the 34 players in the provisional Harambee Stars squad for a friendly match against Zambia on October 10 in Nairobi and the two-legged AFCON qualifier against Comoros in November but his availability is still in doubt.

“We continue to engage his club but they have been clear that they don’t want to miss him for some important games as he has to be on quarantine for 14 days in the event he leaves the country. We however continue to talk to the club and relevant authorities and hope to reach an amicable agreement in the coming days,” Football Kenya Federation (FKF) CEO Barry Otieno told Nation Sport.

Local-based players hit camp on Sunday with the foreign-based players expected from next week.