Cristiano Ronaldo scores, as Al Nassr beats, Al Rayyan 2-1 in AFC Champions, League Elite.
Ronaldo, who had missed the first match, of the ACLE with a viral infection, looked in fine touch, from the beginning, coming close to scoring, twice in the first 15 minutes.
But he was denied, by Brazilian goalkeeper Paolo Victor, who remained an astute presence, between the sticks for Rayyan, till Sadio Mane, breached the defence, with a flying header off, Sultan Al-Ghannam’s, cross in first-half stoppage-time.
Rayyan came out, with a more composed defence, after the break, and managed to keep the hosts, in control for the larger, part of the game, cutting out spaces, along the flanks, and forcing them, to take a narrow approach.
Ronaldo thought, he had scored two minutes, into the restart when he guided, a through ball in the box, into the net. But the linesman, raised the flag and the on-field referee, after a discussion with the VAR, ruled the goal out.
His moment in the sun, arrived nearly half, an hour later, when he got the ball, on the right side, of the field and whipped, in a left-footed curler into the net.
As the lead doubled, thousands of local fans, got louder, with the Portuguese dedicating, the goal to his father, who would have been 71 years old on September 30.