Al Nassr 2-0 Persepolis | CR7’s side ACL points | Al HIGHLIGHTS MATCH 2023
Abdulrahman Ghareeb gave the Saudi Arabians a deserved win with a goal just after the hour and the contest was virtually ended with a fine debut strike from Mohammed Qassem.
By that time, the Iranians were a man down but this was a solid performance from Al-Nassr who were on top from the start at the famous but empty Azadi Stadium.
It may have been quiet – due to a punishment handed out by the Asian Football Confederation after Indian team Goa complained about a social media post that appeared after a 2021 Champions League clash –but there had been plenty of noise before the game. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of fans, were at the airport and Al-Nassr’s hotel, trying to get a glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo as they chanted his name. The five-time Ballon D’or winner responded with a little wave and later, he was pictured receiving the gift of a Persian carpet.
Persepolis were desperate not to be so generous and worked hard from the start to cut the supply to Ronaldo. They also had to reckon with Sadio Mane and the former Bayern Munich and Liverpool star came within centimetres of getting on the end of a delightful curling cross from Sultan Al-Ghannam on the right.
Ronaldo, the leading goalscorer in the Saudi Pro League with seven so far this season, should have given the visitors the lead after 20 minutes. Al-Ghannam headed the ball to the Portuguese star on the edge of the six yard-box. His trademark leap was in full effect but the header was much too close to Alireza Beiranvand who made a comfortable save.
Al-Nassr were on top after getting to grips with a far from ideal playing surface and soon after the impressive Al-Ghannam forced another save from the Iranian ‘keeper with a low shot from the edge of the area that was creeping in.
Persepolis were not posing much attacking threat and that was especially the case as Milad Sarlak picked up a second yellow for a foul on Ronaldo and left the field of play.
Just past the hour, the deadlock was finally broken. Ronaldo fed Marcelo Brozovic who raced down the left and pulled it back for Ghareeb. His shot from inside the area may have taken a deflection but it was a deserved lead.
It was always going to be hard for Persepolis to come back from that and it became almost impossible with 18 minutes left on the clock. It was a more emphatic strike. Qassem broke into the area from the left side and then the left-back lashed a fierce shot from a tight angle into the roof of the net. It was some way to score a first goal for the club.
After that, the question was whether Ronaldo would mark his full Asian debut with a goal and while he tried, it wasn’t to be. With Istiklol and Al-Duhail drawing 0-0 in the other group game, it was the perfect start for Al-Nassr in what was a tricky away trip.
It came 24 hours after Al-Ittihad returned to Asian competition for the first time to pick up a 3-0 win over AGMK. Also on Monday, another Uzbekistan team gave Al-Hilal quite the scare in Riyadh. Navbahor took the lead early in the second half and, despite the pressure and possession from the four-time champions, it took a 100th minute goal from defender Ali Al-Bulaihi to grab the Blues a point and save them from a shock defeat against a team playing their first ever game in the tournament.
Line-ups
Persepolis XI: M. Pouraliganji, Hossein Kanaani, A. Beiranvand, Saeid Sadeghi, V. Amiri, M. Torabi, Milad Sarlak, Danial Esmaeilifar, Ali Nemati, Masoud Rigi, Mohammad Omri
Subs: Omid Alishah, Giorgi Gvelesiani, Soroosh Rafiei, Shahab Zahedi, Farshad Faraji, Vakhdat Khanonov, Yasin Salmani, Mohammadmehdi Ahmadi, Sina Asadbeigi, Amirreza Rafiei, Alireza Babaei, Mohammad Milad Sourgi
Al Nassr FC XI: Ronaldo, Brozovic, Laporte, Mane, Otávio, Mohammed Qasem, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Nawaf Al-Aqidi
Subs: Waleed Abdullah, Mohammed Al-Fatil, Abdullah Madu, Sami Al-Najei, Raghed Al-Najjar, Ali Al-Hassan, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Nawaf Al-Boushal, Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa, Meshari Al Nemer
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