Esteghlal Out of AFC Elite League After Al-Nassr Loss
TEHRAN – Iran’s Esteghlal football team lost to Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia 3-0 in the second leg of their AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 Round of 16 tie Monday night.
In the match, held at the King Saud University Stadium, Jhon Duran struck twice and Cristiano Ronaldo once.
Al Nassr - seeking to win the title for the first time - advanced 3-0 on aggregate and will know its quarter-final opponent in Monday’s draw.
The breakthrough came in the ninth minute when Duran capitalized on Hussein Husseini’s careless pass, calmly lobbing the ball over Esteghlal’s keeper.
The Saudis doubled their lead from the penalty spot, Cristiano Ronaldo stepping up in the 27th minute to convert with typical confidence following Muhammad Niknafs’ mistimed challenge on Sadio Mane.
Esteghlal’s task was made almost impossible when Mehran Ahmadi was sent off for a second bookable offence late in the first half as he caught Mohammed Al-Fatil in the face with a flailing arm.
Duran, a livewire all night, deservingly settled the tie in the 84th minute after collecting Angelo’s pass inside the six-yard-box to strike home into the bottom left corner.
Al-Nassr’s win in Riyadh came after a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Tehran last week and takes Stefano Pioli’s team into the quarterfinals, which will be played in Jeddah as part of a centralized tournament from April 25 to May 3.
Qatar’s Al-Sadd Beat Al-Wasl.
Akram Afif was instrumental in Al-Sadd’s 3-1 victory in Doha and got on the scoresheet as he led Felix Sanchez’s side to a 4-2 aggregate win over the side from the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Sadd progressed as a result of an 11-minute spell in the first half against Al-Wasl that saw the Qataris score three times to overturn Fabio Lima’s early opener.
The Brazil-born forward gave his side the lead in the 10th minute, sweeping a first-time shot home after Alexis Perez’s center had arced over the Al-Sadd back line.
But Afif unlocked the Al-Wasl defense to haul Al-Sadd level 16 minutes later, driving towards the byline before pulling the ball back into the path of Mostafa Meshaal who he slotted into the bottom corner.
Youcef Atal’s strike saw Al-Sadd take the lead on the half-hour as he cut inside towards goal before his shot from the tightest of angles deflected past Khaled Al-Senaani via the boot of Al-Wasl defender Jung Seung-hyun.
Asian Player of the Year Afif showed his quality with the third in the 37th minute, playing a short free kick to Claudinho and then bending the return into the top corner from 20 meters.
Esteghlal FC was eliminated from the AFC Champions League Elite round of 16.