Par Michael Church
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Saudis Al-Ahli maintained their perfect start to the elite Asian Champions League on Monday as goals from Riyad Mahrez and Roger Ibanez sealed a 2-0 victory over Al-Wasl while Cristiano Ronaldo scored in Al-Nassr’s 2-0. -1 victory against Al-Rayyan.
Qatar’s Al-Sadd beat Iran’s Esteghlal 2-0 as Persepolis and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor drew 1-1 in Tashkent in the second round of the league stage of the revamped Asian Continental Championship.
Mahrez scored in the third minute in Dubai to give Al-Ahli the lead after skillfully controlling Ibanez’s ball forward and the pair switched roles seven minutes before the break for the Brazilian to double l ‘advance.
Show full article
The victory moves Al-Ahli to six points from two matches on the western side of the draw after Matthias Jaissle’s side started the campaign with a victory against Iranians Persepolis two weeks ago.
Al-Nassr claimed their first win of the competition after drawing against Iraqi side Al-Shorta thanks to goals from Sadio Mane and Ronaldo which sealed a 2-1 victory in Riyadh.
Mané emerged from a crowd of players to meet Sultan Al-Ghannam’s lofted ball into the box with a close-range header in first-half injury time, leaving goalkeeper Paulo Victor with little chance.
Ronaldo then found the net 14 minutes from time, firing a left-footed shot into the top corner of Victor’s goal to wrap up the win for Stefano Pioli’s side, with Roger Guedes hitting a late consolation for Al- Rayyan.
This is Al-Nassr’s fourth consecutive victory in all competitions since former AC Milan manager Pioli replaced Luis Castro as head coach.
“We deserved to win,” Mané said. “We started well, we controlled the game and we created many chances.
“So far I think we have done well together (under Pioli), we have played four games, we have won four games and we cannot expect more than that.”
Persepolis were denied their first win despite Ali Alipour scoring in the first minute as hosts Pakhtakor earned a draw with Dragan Ceran conceding in a 59th-minute equalizer.
Al-Sadd claimed their first victory after drawing against defending champions Al-Ain two weeks ago as Felix Sanchez’s side beat Esteghlal.
A poorly timed punch from goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini five minutes before half-time gave Al-Sadd the lead and Akram Afif’s 68th-minute penalty sealed the victory.
The second round of league stage matches in the western half of the draw continues on Tuesday with Al-Ain traveling to Qatar to face Al-Gharafa while four-time continental champions Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia will host Al- Shorta.
(Reporting by Michael Church, editing by Ken Ferris)
Disclaimer: This report is automatically generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint assumes no responsibility for its content.
