Al-Ahly Saudi Arabia became the first to qualify for the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League for the elite, by defeating Al-Ain, the defending champion, 2-1, thanks to a brace by its English striker Ivan Toney – today, Monday – at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the fifth round, while Al-Nasr Saudi Arabia came close to catching up with it. By defeating its host, Al-Gharafa, Qatar, 3-1, thanks to a brace by its Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the first match, Toni came off the bench to open the scoring 5 minutes after coming on (70th minute) and then add the second (74th minute), before Paraguayan Alejandro Romero reduced the gap for Al Ain (90th minute + 3).
Al-Ahly achieved the full mark and leads the standings with 15 points, two points ahead of Al-Nasr and 3 points ahead of its other compatriot Al-Hilal, which can return to first place if it wins over its host Al-Sadd of Qatar tomorrow, Tuesday.
It is Al-Ahly’s first victory over Al-Ain in the continental championship after two losses and two draws in the previous four matches between them.
For its part, Al Ain continued its poor campaign in defending its title and suffered its fourth loss in a row, and failed to win for the fifth match in a row, leaving its score standing at one point in the 12th and last place in the unified West Asia group.
Double for Ronaldo
Al-Nasr took a big step towards reaching the quarter-finals by returning as a winner from Qatar’s Al-Gharafa Stadium 3-1 thanks to a brace by its Portuguese star, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo scored his two goals in the 46th and 64th minutes, and between them the Brazilian Angelo Gabriel scored the second goal (58th minute). On the other hand, Al Gharafa’s only goal was scored by Spain’s Joselu (75th minute), before the team completed the match with 10 players after its Senegalese player Seydou Sano was sent off in the 84th minute. .
In a third match, Iranian Esteghlal tied 0-0 with Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan.
Qatar’s Al Rayyan will later meet Iran’s Persepolis at the end of today’s matches.
