Cristiano Ronaldo absence was surely felt as Al-Nassr suffered their first loss in the AFC Champions League Elite, falling 2-1 to Al-Sadd of Qatar on Monday. With Al-Nassr already securing a spot in the round of 16, Ronaldo, who has netted five goals in his last three games, was rested and watched the match from the sidelines.
Al Sadd Qualifies For Playoffs
Al-Sadd opened strongly in the second half via a goal from Asia Player of the Year nominee in November, Akram Afif. Al-Nassr, though, remained quite hopeful due to some effective plays from Sadio Mane and Anderson Talisca just before Romain Saiss’s own goal had pushed the match into level status with 10 minutes on the clock.
Shocking Defeat For Al-Nassr
But it took an amazing turn for Afif to be fouled inside the penalty area in the ninth minute of stoppage time, allowing Adam Ounas to win the match with a converted penalty for Al-Sadd, sending this former AFC Champions League winner of 2011 into the round of 16 by moving to the fourth spot in their group with a single point of Al-Nassr’s third-place finish.
Al-Ahil vs Esteghlal
Elsewhere, Al-Ahli at the group’s summit shared the points with Esteghlal of Iran with a 2-2 draw. Al-Ahli forward Ivan Toney netted a brace for the team, whereas Esteghlal strikers Raphael Silva and Mohammad Hossein Eslami found the back of the net for the Iranian. A second penalty by Toney in the 86th minute meant that Esteghlal shared points with Al-Ahli.
In other action, Iran’s Persepolis defeated Al-Shorta of Iraq 2-1, and Al-Wasl from the UAE played out a 1-1 draw with Al-Rayyan of Qatar.
