FOOTBALL – AL Nassr Club signalled their title ambition cruising 5-1 past Al Zawraa SC in their AFC Champions League Two 2025-26 Group D tie at the King Saud University Stadium yesterday.
The win meant a perfect group stage campaign for the Saudi Pro League side, with Kingsley Coman starring with a brace in the defeat of Al Zawraa who, however, advanced to the knockout stage ahead of FC Istiklol on goal difference.
Cristiano Ronaldo spearheaded Al Nassr’s attack in his first appearance in the competition, while Al Zawraa welcomed back Jordanians Nizar Al Rashdan and Abdalah Nasib, who featured in the Fifa Arab Cup Qatar 2025.
Al Zawraa kept Al Nassr at bay in the opening exchanges before falling behind in the 12th minute after Hussain Falah gave the ball away with Angelo exchanging passes with Kingsley Coman, who converted with a first time finish into the bottom right corner.
Al Nassr doubled their lead seven minutes later when the Iraqi outfit failed to deal with a corner, resulting in Wesley pouncing on the loose ball on the edge of the six-yard-box and firing home into the roof of the net.
Abdulelah Al Amri got on the scoresheet just before the half-hour mark, meeting Joao Felix’s corner with a glancing header that sailed past rooted Al Zawraa keeper Jalal Hassan.
Ronaldo then set up Al Nassr’s fourth in the 44th minute when he sent a deft lob into the box for Felix to finish with a chip over a scrambling Hassan.
Al Nassr replaced Ronaldo with Mohammed Marran for the second half, with Al Zawraa pulling one back in the 50th minute after Mohammed Qasim released Ibrahim Gbadamosi into the box for the Nigerian to slot past Bento.
Coman, who grazed the crossbar moments earlier, restored Al Nassr’s four-goal advantage in the 56th minute after Felix’s dummy run gave the Frenchman space to slot the ball into the bottom left corner.
Meanwhile, Istiklol produced a second half fightback to edge FC Goa 2-1 in their Group D tie.
The victory however was not enough to advance as the Tajikistan side finished third on goal difference behind Al Zawraa.
The home side, yet to register a point, took the lead in the eighth minute with Dejan Drazic finding space inside the box before finishing superbly with a curling effort into the top right corner.
Istiklol responded seven minutes later with Amirbek Juraboev testing FC Goa keeper Lara Sharma from distance while Siavash Haghnazari tried to lob the ball over Sharma a minute later from Paul Komolafe’s set-up, only to see his shot crash against the bar.
FC Goa came close to doubling their lead moments later with Iker Guarrotxena forcing Nikola Stosic to tip away his stinging shot from distance with the Spanish forward then sending his headed attempt from the resulting corner over the bar.
Istiklol threatened from distance through Ehsoni Panjshanbe and Marlen Chobanov before Komolafe angled his headed attempt right into the arms of Sharma in the first half stoppage time.
The Tajikistan side came back fighting in the second half with Komolafe latching onto Harsh Patre’s poor backpass before rounding off Sharma to level the tie in the 53rd minute.
Another defensive lapse saw the Indian Super League side fall behind after Pol Moreno conceded a penalty for a handball, with Amirbek Juraboev converting from the spot in the 56th minute.
FC Goa tried their best to respond but efforts from Brison Fernandes and Guarrotxena failed to find the mark as Istiklol held on to seal the win.
&uuid=(email))