In the AFC Champions League, Al Nassr, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, faced a 1-0 defeat against Al Ain in the first leg. Al Ain’s lone goal was scored in the 44th minute by Soufiane Rahimi.
It was Monday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium when a heated match was held between Al Nassr and Al Ain. In the AFC Champions League, Al Nassr, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, faced a 1-0 defeat against Al Ain in the first leg of the quarterfinal match. Al Ain’s Soufiane Rahimi scored their first goal in the second half, in the 44th minute, and stopped Al Nassr’s eight-match unbeaten series in the global championship.
Rahimi excelled himself and scored his sixth goal of the season when Al Ain’s star goal scorer Kodjo Laba was out of the league for his injuries. His sixth goal made him the club’s top goal scorer this season. However, AI Ain’s form was quite impressive on Monday, when Al Ain’s goalkeeper Khalid Essa saved his club twice from Ronaldo’s goal.
Al Nassr’s player, Aymeric Laporte, faced a red card in the fourth minute of the extra minutes. It can be called an unlucky day for Al Nassr, as they created many opportunities to score. Al Nassr’s Mane and Yahya had a couple of chances to score early in the match. Even Ronaldo tried twice to score but failed.
At the end of the match, 11 minutes were added, for a total of eight yellow cards in the match; however, that time extended more when Laporte elbowed Al Ahbiba. Al Ain has the advantage now for the second leg as they are leading with one goal, and to win from Al Ain, Al Nassr had to make the score 2-0.
