Magnificent Olunga strikes brace as Reysol survive Iniesta’s Kobe scare

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 10 – Harambee Stars forward Michael Olunga stretched his goal scoring streak of form to 21 for the season, striking a brace as his side Kashiwa Reysol survived a late scare from Andres Iniesta’s Vissel Kobe to win 4-3 at home on Saturday morning.

Reysol were leading 4-0 after 52 minutes but the visitors threatened to stage a massive comeback with Iniesta’s 87^th minute penalty taking the scores to 4-3.

However, Reysol held on to pick the three points and move sixth in the standings with 36 points, three off the top five.

Reysol were off to a quick start and Olunga who missed Friday’s friendly between Kenya and Zambia broke the deadlock in the 20^th minute when he dived to head in from a Critisno cross from the right.

Though he was already fumbling to the ground, the striker managed to guide the ball home.

Reysol then made it 2-0 in the 39^th minute before Olunga doubled his tally, taking his total for the season to 21 a minute to the break when he raced to tap in on the rebound after the Kobe keeper spilled a shot from the left.

Esaka then made it 4-0 for Reysol at the break and they seemed to be cruising against a Kobe side with Iniesta and former Arsenal defender Thomas Varmaelen.

However, the visitors began a comeback with Junya Tanaka scoring a brace in the 60tyh and 75^th minutes, first tapping home from close range off a Rhuyo Kikuchi cross from the right before finishing off a Gotoku Sakai pass.

Iniesta then made it for a nervous finish when he slotted home a penalty in the 87^th minute, sending the keeper the wrong way.

Reysol however managed to hold on nervously despite being reduced to 10 men when Shunki Takahashi was sent off for a second bookable offense.

Olunga has now opened a 10-goal gap between him and the second-best scorer, Kashima Antlers’ Everaldo. He has now scored 22 goals this season, with one more in the Cup.

The Engineer’s best scoring form was in 2015 when he scored 19 goals that helped Gor Mahia clinch the Kenyan premier League title unbeaten and was also named the KPL player of the year.