Defeating Al Fayha 1-0 in the first leg thanks to Ronaldo’s goal a week ago, Al Nassr is confident before entering the second leg of the 1/8 round of the AFC Champions League on the evening of February 21. Al Nassr is also in good form, winning 8/9 recent matches.
Playing at King Fahd’s home stadium, Al Nassr did not take too long to impose their position on the match. The constant pressure from Saudi Arabia’s representatives brought results when Otavio decisively finished, opening the score 1-0 for Al Nassr in the 17th minute.
Having scored an early goal, Al Nassr played quite comfortably and continuously pressed the field. However, both Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane squandered a series of opportunities, causing the first half to end without any more goals scored.
At the beginning of the second half, Ronaldo kicked the ball into Al Fayha’s net but CR7 was flagged offside. Al Fayha tried to push the team high in search of an equalizer, but they could not get any sharp coordination when Al Nassr defended too firmly.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s efforts were also rewarded in the 86th minute. The Portuguese star took advantage of goalkeeper Stojkovic’s mistake and scored accurately, sealing a 2-0 victory for Al Nassr.
During the match, Ronaldo played aggressively and moved continuously. The 39-year-old superstar played the full 90 minutes, touched the ball 55 times, passed 83% accurately, finished 4 times with two shots on target.
Winning the final against Al Fayha 3-0 after two matches in the round of 16, Al Nassr will face Al-Ain of the UAE in the quarterfinals of this year’s AFC Champions League. The next goal of Ronaldo and his teammates is to compete for the top spot with Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League this weekend, a tournament where Al Nassr is 7 points behind their opponent.