AFC Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo scores Al Nassr winner in their first league game

The Portuguese star forward scored the winning goal as his team Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia defeated Al Rayyan of Qatar by a scoreline of 2-1 in the AFC Champions League elite group stage yesterday.

Ronaldo had missed his team’s earlier opening game that resulted in a 1-1 draw against Al Shorta of Iraq two weeks ago because of a viral infection. On Monday, he had a goal ruled out for offside, but his kick at the ball to the opponent’s goal post at the top corner with 14 minutes left of regulated time in the second half in Riyadh proved to be decisive.

The other goal was scored by former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane who sent the ball into Al Rayyan’s net just before the first half whistle. Al Rayyan came back to deny Al Nassr the clean sheet and scored a goal 3 minutes before the whistle blew for the end of the game in the second half. The goal was scored by Roger Guedes.

Talking of other teams and players, Riyad Mahrez netted his first goal of the season as Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia won at the Al Wasl of UAE by a scoreline of 2-0 for a second straight undefeated win. The Algerian striker joined the Jeddah club from Manchester City in 2023 had been struggling for fitness. 

Al Sadd of Qatar defeated Esteghlal of Iran 2-0 while its Tehran rival Persepolis drew with Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan 1-1.

The 24 teams in the Asian Football Championship are divided into two groups of 12, one based in the west, and one based in the east. The top 8 teams of both the groups are to qualify for the tournament’s round of 16.