Ronaldo Leads Al-Nassr to Victory Over Al-Wasl, Al-Ahli Tops the Table by Defeating Al-Sadd
Two days before celebrating his 40th birthday, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo moved closer to his 1000th career goal, scoring a brace to lead Al-Nassr to a commanding 4-0 victory over UAE’s Al-Wasl in the seventh and penultimate round of the West Zone’s unified group in the AFC Champions League Elite tournament.
At Al Awwal Park in Riyadh, Ali Al-Hassan opened the scoring for Al-Nassr with a long-range strike (25’), before Ronaldo doubled the lead from the penalty spot after a VAR review (44’).
The Saudi side continued their attacking display in the second half, with Ronaldo adding his second of the night—a close-range header from a Sadio Mané cross (78’). Mohammed Al-Fatil sealed the win with another header, converting Marcelo Brozović’s corner (88’).
With this victory, Al-Nassr moved up to 16 points, securing third place, while Al-Wasl remained in fifth with 11 points.
Meanwhile, Saudi side Al-Ahli temporarily climbed to the top of the standings with 19 points after a 3-1 away win over Qatar’s Al-Sadd, who stayed in fourth with 12 points.
Akram Afif put Al-Sadd ahead in the first minute, but Al-Ahli responded with goals from Brazilian Roberto Firmino (10’), his compatriot Rogério Ibáñez (39’), and Algerian player Riyad Mahrez (81’).
With this win, Al-Ahli became the only Saudi team to defeat Al-Sadd in the competition this season, following Al-Nassr’s 2-1 loss and Al-Hilal’s 1-1 draw against them.
Defending Champions Knocked Out
One of the biggest surprises of the round was the elimination of defending champions Al-Ain, who suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Qatar’s Al-Rayyan. Meanwhile, Esteklal Tehran played out a 1-1 draw against Iraq’s Al-Shorta.
Al-Ain dropped to last place with just two points, ending their hopes of advancing, while Al-Rayyan climbed to sixth with eight points. Esteklal Tehran now has six points in eighth place, while Al-Shorta sits in 11th with three points.
Paraguayan Alejandro Romero “Kaku” (42’) put Al-Ain ahead, but Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet” (50’) and Brazilian Roger Guedes (75’) led Al-Rayyan’s comeback.
Al-Ain suffered a major setback before kickoff when their top scorer, Togolese forward Laba Kodjo, was injured during warm-ups and had to be replaced by Mohammed Awadallah. The visitors started aggressively, with new winter signing Adam Bareiro forcing a strong save from Al-Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa (8’).
Al-Rayyan continued to dominate, and Khalid Al-Atas had to clear Guedes’ shot off the goal line before it found the net (27’). Al-Ain gradually grew into the game, but Al-Rayyan’s Brazilian goalkeeper Paulo Victor denied Argentine Matías Palacios with an excellent save (30’).
The hosts eventually broke the deadlock when Soufiane Rahimi set up Kaku, who fired a deceptive shot past Eisa (42’).
Al-Rayyan equalized early in the second half when Murad Naji’s long ball found Trezeguet, who acrobatically volleyed into the net (50’). Palacios came close to restoring Al-Ain’s lead with a powerful long-range strike that rattled the crossbar (70’).
The Qatari side completed their comeback in the 75th minute when a throw-in from Bareiro found Guedes, who blasted a shot past Eisa.
The round will conclude on Wednesday with two key matches: Qatari side Al-Gharafa faces Uzbeki side Pakhtakor, while Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia takes on Iranian side Persepolis in a high-stakes clash.
