Al Nassr, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, suffered a 1-0 defeat to UAE's Al Ain in the first leg of their AFC Champions League quarterfinal. The tense clash took place on Monday at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain.
Soufiane Rahimi scored the only goal in the 44th minute, ending Al Nassr's eight-game unbeaten streak in the continental championship. This result calls into question the Saudi club's quest for a third consecutive semi-final appearance.
Al Ain's star striker, Kodjo Laba, was out due to injury, so Moroccan Rahimi stepped up and excelled. The goal was his sixth in the competition, tying Laba as the club's top scorer this year. Al Ain keeper Khalid Essa made two acrobatic saves against Ronaldo, and Nassr lost Aymeric Laporte to a red card in the fourth minute of a 15-minute extra time.
After Sadio Mané and Ayman Yahya had chances for Nassr early in the first half, Rahimi nearly put Al Ain ahead in the 23rd minute, but David Ospina made a diving save.
Rahimi was in the thick of things in the 28th minute, assisting Kaku, but his goal was denied because he was offside.
Moments after Ronaldo missed a chance by the narrowest of margins, the hardworking Rahimi scored by latching on to an Alejandro Romero through pass. Rahimi dribbled past Ospina and scored the game-winning goal with minutes remaining in the half. Nassr had a chance to respond right away, but Eisa saved a Ronaldo volley in the 45th minute.
Ronaldo had another chance to tie the game eight minutes later, but he smashed a beautiful cross from Aiman Yahya straight over the bar.
Rahimi scored a goal for Ospina in the 72nd minute, but a second goal was denied due to offside. Al Nassr had several chances in the second half but couldn't convert them. Eight yellow cards were issued due to fouls, extending the game by 11 minutes. Laporte elbowed Al Ahbabi in the 90+4 minute. The second leg of the quarter-final will be played on Monday in Saudi Arabia.
(Inputs from agencies)
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