Cristiano Ronaldo netted a brace to lead Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia to a 3-1 victory over Qatar’s Al-Gharafa in Monday’s AFC Champions League Elite group stage clash, virtually assuring his side a place in the knockout round.
The Saudi Pro League side controlled the match from the start in Qatar, with Cristiano Ronaldo nearly opening the scoring just three minutes in, only to be denied by a Sergio Rico save. A similar outcome followed when the former Real Madrid man unleashed a powerful effort from the edge of the box. Despite their sustained dominance, these two Ronaldo attempts were the only shots on target during the first half.
Early in the second half, Ronaldo broke the deadlock with a precise header from Sultan Al-Ghannam’s pinpoint cross, meeting the ball at the edge of the six-yard box to beat Sergio Rico. With the lead secured, Al-Nassr shifted into high gear as Angelo and Otavio performed a clever one-two, culminating in Angelo’s dazzling footwork to bypass Rico and double the visitors’ advantage just before the hour mark.
Ronaldo then completed his brace in style, capitalizing on Angelo’s pass to find himself in open space, deceiving the defender with a perfectly executed dummy, and slotting the ball into the side netting to effectively seal Al-Nassr’s victory over Al-Gharafa.
After Al-Nassr’s third goal, Al-Gharafa raised their intensity while the Saudi side appeared to ease their pressure. A triple substitution by Stefano Pioli, which included replacing Ronaldo with Brazilian forward Wesley, offered Al-Gharafa an opening. Former Real Madrid striker Joselu capitalized on a rebound from Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento, calmly slotting the ball into the net to pull one back for the hosts. However, any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished when defender Seydou Sano received a red card, leaving Al-Gharafa a man down. Al-Nassr regained control and comfortably saw out the match, securing a 3-1 victory at Al Bayt Stadium.
Big win tonight! pic.twitter.com/W3HTxddz6U
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 25, 2024
After the match, the 39-year-old took to X to celebrate his team’s victory, with Tesla and X owner Musk quickly offering his congratulations to the Portuguese star as well.
After Ronaldo shared several photos from the victory with the caption, “Big win tonight!”, Musk responded with a simple, “Congrats!” in the comments.
With this win, Al Nassr rise to second place in the Group B of the AFC Champions League standings. Their next assignment will be a home game against Damac in the Saudi Pro League.
Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.
