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\u2019s Al-Wasl in the seventh and penultimate round of the West Zone\u2019s unified group in the AFC Champions League Elite tournament.<\/p>
At Al Awwal Park in Riyadh, Ali Al-Hassan opened the scoring for Al-Nassr with a long-range strike (25\u2019), before Ronaldo doubled the lead from the penalty spot after a VAR review (44\u2019).<\/p>
The Saudi side continued their attacking display in the second half, with Ronaldo adding his second of the night\u2014a close-range header from a Sadio Man\u00e9 cross (78\u2019). Mohammed Al-Fatil sealed the win with another header, converting Marcelo Brozovi\u0107\u2019s corner (88\u2019).<\/p>
With this victory, Al-Nassr moved up to 16 points, securing third place, while Al-Wasl remained in fifth with 11 points.<\/p>
Meanwhile, Saudi side Al-Ahli temporarily climbed to the top of the standings with 19 points after a 3-1 away win over Qatar\u2019s Al-Sadd, who stayed in fourth with 12 points.<\/p>
Akram Afif put Al-Sadd ahead in the first minute, but Al-Ahli responded with goals from Brazilian Roberto Firmino (10\u2019), his compatriot Rog\u00e9rio Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez (39\u2019), and Algerian player Riyad Mahrez (81\u2019).<\/p>
With this win, Al-Ahli became the only Saudi team to defeat Al-Sadd in the competition this season, following Al-Nassr\u2019s 2-1 loss and Al-Hilal\u2019s 1-1 draw against them.<\/p>
Defending Champions Knocked Out<\/p>
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\u2019s Al-Rayyan. Meanwhile, Esteklal Tehran played out a 1-1 draw against Iraq\u2019s Al-Shorta.<\/p>
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.<\/p>
Paraguayan Alejandro Romero \u201cKaku\u201d (42\u2019) put Al-Ain ahead, but Mahmoud Hassan \u201cTrezeguet\u201d (50\u2019) and Brazilian Roger Guedes (75\u2019) led Al-Rayyan\u2019s comeback.<\/p>
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\u2019). <\/p>
Al-Rayyan continued to dominate, and Khalid Al-Atas had to clear Guedes\u2019 shot off the goal line before it found the net (27\u2019). Al-Ain gradually grew into the game, but Al-Rayyan\u2019s Brazilian goalkeeper Paulo Victor denied Argentine Mat\u00edas Palacios with an excellent save (30\u2019).<\/p>
The hosts eventually broke the deadlock when Soufiane Rahimi set up Kaku, who fired a deceptive shot past Eisa (42\u2019).<\/p>
Al-Rayyan equalized early in the second half when Murad Naji\u2019s long ball found Trezeguet, who acrobatically volleyed into the net (50\u2019). Palacios came close to restoring Al-Ain\u2019s lead with a powerful long-range strike that rattled the crossbar (70\u2019).<\/p>
The Qatari side completed their comeback in the 75th minute when a throw-in from Bareiro found Guedes, who blasted a shot past Eisa.<\/p>
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.<\/p>
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