Sports
Report, result, goals with Ronaldo replaced
Cristiano Ronaldo set up Portugal teammate Joao Felix’s goal before being substituted at half-time as Al-Nassr thrashed Al-Zawraa in the AFC Cup in Riyadh.
Former Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman collected Angelo’s pass to slot Al-Nassr in front in the 12th minute before Wesley doubled the Saudi Pro League leaders’ advantage by firing in from a corner seven minutes later.
Abdulelah Al Amri headed in Joao Felix’s cross in the 29th minute, with the former Chelsea forward then prodding in Ronaldo’s clever scooped delivery a minute before the break.
Ibrahim Gbadamosi’s finish from inside the box reduced the deficit five minutes after the restart, but Coman struck his second 11 minutes later as his side extended their perfect run in this season’s group stage to six matches.
Al Nassr vs Al Zawraa: Ronaldo side rampant
Having replaced five-time Champions League winner Ronaldo with Saudi Arabia forward Mohammed Marran, Al-Nassr saw out their sixth consecutive win in all competitions to move nine points clear of Al-Zawraa at the top of their group.
The Iraq Stars League side are midtable in their domestic top flight and entered with three wins and two defeats in this season’s AFC Cup.
Al-Nassr have a four-point lead over Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League and host fourth-bottom Al-Akhdoud on Saturday (14:50 GMT / 09:50 ET / 06:50 PT).
Al Nassr starting line-up vs Al Zawraa
Al-Nassr starting XI: Bento, Sultan Al Ghannam, Abdulelah Al Amri, Abdullah Al Khaibari, Saad Al Nasser, Kingsley Coman, Wesley, Cristiano Ronaldo, Joao Felix, Marcelo Brozovic, Angelo
Al Nassr substitutes: Nawaf Al Aqidi, Nader Al Sharar, Nawaf Bu Washl, Mohammed Marran, Ali Al Hassan, Raghid Najjar, Rakan Al Ghamdi, Awad Aman, Haroune Camara, Salem Al Najdi
Al Zawraa starting line-up vs Al Nassr
Al Zawraa starting XI: Jalal Hassan, Abdallah Nasib, Hussain Falah, Akam Hashim, Mahdi Al Humaidan, Hasan Abdulkareem, Kadhim Raad, Karar Nabeel, Nizar Al Rashdan, Sajjad Mahdi, Ibrahim Gbadamosi
Al Zawraa substitutes: Maytham Jabbar, Dhurgham Ismail, Murad Mohammad, Youssef Aziz, Mohammed Qasim, Hussein Hasan, Ali Sadeq, Sajad Mohammad, Hayder Abdulkareem, Rasool Fadhil, Hussein Abdullah, Reziq Bani Hani
