Al Duhail returned to winning ways by defeating Al Shamal 3-1 in Week 18 of the 2023-2024 season Expo Stars League at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium of Al Duhail club on Friday.

Michael Olunga scored a brace (73rd minute penalty and 90th minute) after Suhaib Gannan had given Al Duhail the equaliser in the 69th minute. Omid Ebrahimi had opened the scoring for Al Shamal in the 61st minute.

With the result, Al Duhail now have 22 points, while Al Shamal remained on 18 points.

Both sides had a couple of scoring chances in the early parts of the game, but superb goalkeeping at both ends denied them the opportunity to record an early goal.

Al Duhail, who had been experiencing a spate of negative results in recent times, with the latest being a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Al Wakrah in Week 17, were expectedly the more aggressive of the duo as they tried all the tricks in their bag to open their scoring account, but all to no avail.

Ibrahima Diallo thought he had opened the scoring for The Red Knights in the 26th minute, but after a lengthy VAR check, the goal was ruled offside.

Al Shamal had their penalty called and stood down in the 42nd minute after Sultan Al Breik was adjudged to have fouled Fahad Waad inside Al Duhail’s 18-yard box, but the referee ruled otherwise.

The two sides began to up their game in the added time of the first half, but despite the pressure, none of them were the first to blink as the half ended.

Al Shamal threw in Omar Rafik Mohammed in place of Hamad Mansour, who is on loan from Al Wakrah, at half-time in an attempt to add more bite to their attack and the decision seemed to be the best as their move upfront became much better with more attempts at goals recorded.

Ebrahimi eventually opened the scoring for Al Shamal in the 61st minute with a well-taken left-footed shot. The Iranian international’s initial shot was parried out by Al Duhail goalkeeper Shehab Ellethy, but the rebound fell in the way of Ebrahimi, who hit the target in the second attempt.

A stunned Al Duhail immediately replaced Isaac Lihadji with Philippe Coutinho a minute after the incident and the Brazillian’s presence made the difference shortly after that as he provided the assist for Gannan, three minutes later, which restored parity for them.

By the 73rd minute, Al Duhail had come from behind to record a lead as Olunga stepped up to the plate to score from the spot, after he had been brought down by goalkeeper Abdalla El Rady in a one-on-one situation to make it 2-1 in favour of coach Christophe Galtier’s team. Coutinho was once again the architect of the goal as his overhead flip to Olunga brought about the foul from the onrushing El Rady.

Olunga made it three for Al Duhail, and two for himself, in the 90th minute as he tapped into an empty net after a sublime pass from Ismail Mohammed to take off the pressure from The Red Knights. The goal was initially stood down for offside, but after a lengthy VAR review, it was eventually given by the referee.

Despite Al Shamal’s attempt at coming back into the game, Al Duhail’s defence refused to buckle as the game ended 3-1.