In the AFC Champions League match between Qatar’s Al Duhail and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, which ended in a thrilling 4-3 victory for Al Nassr, Ronaldo turned back the hands of time to score two incredible goals and help propel his team to victory.
Sadio Mane, a former Liverpool striker, and Anderson Talisca, also scored for the Saudi side as they made it three victories out of three in the group stages of the top Asian club championship on Tuesday night.
Talisca scored the scoring in Riyadh in the 25th minute from the edge of the box after being set up by Ronaldo’s deft back-heeled flick as the Portuguese talisman went through his whole bag of tricks. Talisca’s goal gave his team a 1-0 lead. Ronaldo, who is 38 years old, set up the play.
11 minutes after the break, Mane turned and hammered home to add a second, and Al Nassr appeared to be coasting until Ronaldo curled home an exquisite third from outside the box to make it 3-0 five minutes later. Mane turned and smashed home to add a second 11 minutes after the break.
Ismail Mohamad and Almoez Ali scored for Qatar in the following six minutes to bring the game back within a hair’s breadth of being decided. Philippe Coutinho, a former winger for Barcelona and Liverpool, served as an inspiration for the Qatari team.
Ronaldo appeared to have sealed the deal with nine minutes left to play when he raced onto a long ball played by Sultan Al Ghannam and hammered home a magnificent left-foot volley without breaking stride. This gave the impression that Ronaldo had the last word.
Michael Olunga’s goal in the 85th minute brought the score back to 4-3 and set the stage for a tense final few minutes of play. There was still time for another turn of events.
“When you face Ronaldo, there isn’t much you can do,” said Al Duhail manager Christophe Galtier, who was in charge of French giants Paris Saint-Germain last season. Galtier was speaking about Ronaldo. “When you face Ronaldo, there isn’t much you can do.”
“The Very Best There Is”
“He scored two stunning goals,” the commentator said. It’s hard for me to put into words how amazing he is. Given his age of 38, what he accomplished today is quite remarkable. Even now, he is the top player in the entire world.
Another team located in Riyadh, Al Hilal, dominated India’s Mumbai City by a score of 6-0, with two goals coming from former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic. Despite the absence of their injured superstar, Neymar, Al Hilal made light of the situation.
Pohang Steelers of South Korea were able to defeat the defending champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan 2-0 at home in the East zone. Jeong Jae-hee and Goh Young-jun were the ones who scored for Pohang Steelers, who scored one goal on either side of halftime in Saitama.
Urawa are now in a difficult position to get to the knockout stages because they have only collected four points during their first three games in Group J. This puts them on par with China’s Wuhan Three Towns, who won their first game by a score of 2-1 against Hanoi FC.
“Pohang was the better team today, and they deserved to come out on top. Maciej Skorza, the manager of Urawa, remarked that the team was limited in terms of what they could accomplish physically.
Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale extended their winning streak to three games with a 4-2 triumph away at Thailand’s BG Pathum United. With this win, Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale opened up a three-point lead over South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai at the top of Group I.