Riyadh –
Al Nassr knocked out of Liga Champions Asia this season after being kicked out by the representative of the United Arab Emirates, Al Ain. The two teams drew 4-4 over two legs and the winner had to be determined via penalty shootout.
Playing at Al-Awwal Stadium, Tuesday (12/3/2024) early morning WIB, Al Ain, who came armed with a 1-0 victory in the first leg, was able to take the lead in the 28th minute. Soufiane Rahimi beat Al Nassr goalkeeper Raghed Al-Najjar in a 1v1 duel after receiving Alejandro Romero’s through ball.
Rahimi increased the visitors’ lead in the 45th minute. After receiving Matías Palacios’ pass, he fired a shot into the left corner of Al Nassr’s goal from the edge of the penalty box to beat Al-Najjar for the second time.
Behind 0-3 on aggregate, Al Nassr tried to recover. Before halftime, Abdulrahman Ghareeb completed Sadio Mane’s low pass to break into Al Ain’s goal. Score 1-2 closed the first half.
In the second half, Al Nassr equalized in the 51st minute. Otavio’s cross from the right hit the foot of Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa and turned into his own goal. The 2-2 score increased the enthusiasm of Cristiano Ronaldo et al.
As a result, Alex Telles succeeded in turning things around in the 72nd minute. Eisa failed to block his free kick into the left corner of Al Ain’s goal, changing the score to 3-2. This score lasts until normal time ends.
Because the aggregate score was 3-3, the match continued into 2 x 15 minute rounds. In this phase, Al Nassr had to play with 10 people after Ayman Yahya received a straight red card in the 98th minute due to a hard tackle he made on Bandar Mohammed.
Superior in number of players, Al Ain scored a goal in the 103rd minute. Starting from Palacios’ shot which Al-Najjar failed to block perfectly, the wild ball was struck by Sultan Al-Shamsi to break into Al Nassr’s goal.
However, Al Nassr was able to extend their breath thanks to a goal in the 118th minute. Saeed Juma’s violation of Ronaldo in the penalty box made the referee point to the spot. CR7 himself, who stepped forward as kicker, successfully carried out his duties.
Brozović ❌
Such ❌
Ronaldo ✅
Octavio ❌Cristiano was the only one of Al-Nassr’s four penalty takers to score from the spot in the shootout 😬 pic.twitter.com/WiLyZk881l
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 11, 2024
The aggregate score of 4-4 meant that the match had to be decided on penalties. In the high-five round, Al Ain proved to be more effective. Three of their kickers successfully carried out their duties, while in the Al Nassr camp only Ronaldo scored, the other three failed.
With this result, Hernan Crespo’s team has the right to advance to the semifinals and will face the winner of Al Hilal vs Al Ittihad. In the first leg, Al Hilal won 2-0 and the two teams will play the second leg on Wednesday (13/3) at 02.00 WIB.
Penalty shootout
Al Nassr
Failed – Marcelo Brozovic (rejected)
Fail – Alex Telles (hit the post)
Goal – Cristiano Ronaldo
Failed – Otavio (wide)
Al Ain
Goal – Soufiane Rahimi
Goal – Alejandro Romero
Gol – Sultan Al-Shamsi
(adp/mrp)
2024-03-11 22:14:22
#Nassr #Ain #Ronaldo #Eliminated #Asian #Champions #League
