Al Duhail’s Olunga wins AFC Champions League top scorer award

Al Duhail’s Michael Olunga

Al Duhail’s Michael Olunga was crowned the 2021 AFC Champions League’s top scorer on Tuesday, finishing with a tournament-best of nine goals. Olunga’s nine goals in six games makes him the first Kenyan and Al Duhail player to win the prestigious award, scoring in every group stage game with his goals coming from set-pieces, distance, inside the area or via headers. Olunga was denied a chance to add to his tally after Al Duhail were eliminated at the group stage. Meanwhile, Salem al-Dawsari was named MVP after his sterling campaign helped Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal clinch the title for the second time in three years. One of only four Al Hilal players to have featured in three previous AFC Champions League finals, Dawsari played just 41 minutes of football in the group stage but he more than made up for it with impressive performances throughout the knockout stage, picking man of the match awards in both the quarter-final and semi-final matches. Before yesterday’s final against Pohang Steelers of South Korea the talismanic player had been directly involved in scoring four goals in his last three AFC Champions League games, and had also scored in three consecutive games in the competition for the first time in his career.