Riad: Jhon Duran scored twice, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty when NASSR reached a 3-0 victory over Esteghlal, sealing his place in the quarterfinals of the elite of the AFC Champions League on Monday.
According to the reports, Ronaldo, the Captain of Al Nassr, rested for the goalless draw last week in the first leg in Iran, but returned to lead the team in the park to the Awwal.
He scored from the place to the middle of the first half.
Al Nassr, one of the three sides of Saudi Arabia to dominate the group stage of the west region, only needed nine minutes to take the lead in Riyadh.
Duran, a winter signing of the English Premier League Aston Villa, picked up a loose ball on the right edge of the Esteghlal penalty area and floated an excellent chip on goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini.
He scored the striker’s first goal in the competition.
Al Nassr doubled its advantage in 27 minutes after Sadio Mané, a winner of the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool, attracted a foul from the rival midfielder Zobeir Niknafs inside the Esteghlal box.
Ronaldo casually struggled the shot to the center of the network to take his account in the elite of this year’s champions League to seven goals in six appearances.
The Portuguese star is the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League of this season, with 18 goals.
Esteghlal’s night worsened even more before part time when 10 men were reduced after Mehran Ahmadi inadvertently caught the defender of Al Nassr, Mohammed to the fatile with a lost arm in his face while trying to protect the ball.
Var updated the foul to a yellow card and, with Ahmadi previously reserved, was quickly sent.
To the Nassr was close to adding a third at the beginning of the second half. First, Duran had a saved effort, just for Ayman Yahya’s rebound to be clear outside the line.
Minutes later, Duran hit Esteghlal’s crossbar with a shot from a distance.
However, Al Nassr striker would not be denied his second, dragging a low shot inside the near post after being supplied by the former Extreme of Chelsea Angelo.
In the other game on Monday, the two-time Asian champions to SADD reserved their place in the last eight with a aggregate victory of 4-2 against the Eau champions, to the WASL.
Visitors, held at a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Dubai a week earlier, took an early advantage through Fabio Lima.
However, Al Sadd responded with three goals in 10 minutes just before the half -hour brand, with Mostafa Meshaal, Yocef Atal and Akram Afif finding the network. AFIF is the reigning Asian player of the year.
