Cristiano Ronaldo once again made all the difference as Al-Nassr booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League on Wednesday with a 3-0 aggregate victory over fellow Saudi Pro League side Al-Fayha.
After a 1-0 win away from home in last week’s first leg, thanks to a late Ronaldo goal, Al-Nassr moved a step closer closer to their first-ever continental championship with a comfortable 2-0 home victory.
It was a fine performance in which they opened the scoring after 17 minutes when Abdullah Al-Khaibari floated a ball over from deep and it was headed home in emphatic fashion by Otavio.
Roared on by an excited home crowd, Al-Nassr continued to push forward and create chances. Al-Fayha fought hard and tried to close down their star-studded opponents but Al-Nassr were in control. Not long before the break, Ronaldo met a free-kick from Marcelo Brozovic and headed against the crossbar, as the Riyadh giants looked to really turn the screw.
Early in the second half, the Portuguese megastar bamboozled the goalkeeper to fire the ball home but his strike was ruled out for offside.
Al-Nassr continued push forward and were finally rewarded when, with five minutes to go, Ronaldo broke free of the defense and, with only the goalkeeper to beat, stroked the ball home from just inside the area. And that was that.
“We worked hard and we knew what we had to do,” Al-Nassr coach Luis Castro said. “It was a tough game and we are so happy to go through to the next round and then think about what happens next.
“We played well overall and we are now looking forward to the next challenge.”
Despite the disappointment, Al-Fayha coach Vuk Rasovic was proud of his players.
“We did what we had to do and worked so hard,” said the Serbian boss. “We did our best but we also know that Al-Nassr have so much quality, and we are so happy to make it this far.”
Al-Nassr will face Emirati side Al-Ain in the quarter-finals on March 4 and 11.
On Thursday, Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad will be looking to make it three Saudi teams in the last eight of the competition.
Al-Hilal, with a record four continental titles to their name, are in a strong position after winning the first leg of their tie against Sepahan in Iran 3-1. Al-Ittihad, winners of the competition in 2004 and 2005, are also at home but return to Jeddah after a 0-0 draw in their first leg against Uzbek side Navbahor.
