Al Nassr struggled without Cristiano Ronaldo on Monday, drawing 1-1 against Al Shorta in their opening game of the revamped Asian Champions League. Ronaldo missed the match in Baghdad due to a viral infection, as announced by the club the day before.
Despite his absence, Al Nassr got off to a strong start when full-back Sultan Al Ghannam scored in the 14th minute, finishing a well-placed pass from Otavio past Al Shorta’s goalkeeper, Ahmed Basil. Al Nassr, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals last season by Al Ain, couldn’t hold on for the win in this match.
The home team equalized 10 minutes later. A defensive error between new players Salem Al Najdi and former RB Leipzig defender Mohamed Simakan allowed Al Shorta’s forward, Mohammed Dawood, to take advantage and score a great goal, sending the ball high past Al Nassr’s goalkeeper, Bento.
At the same time, another Saudi team, Al Ahli, managed a narrow 1-0 win at home against Iran’s Persepolis in Jeddah. Ivan Toney, a new player making his debut in Asian football, played in this match.
Ivory Coast player Franck Kessie scored for Al Ahli in just the second minute, thanks to an assist from Riyad Mahrez. Persepolis were given a penalty four minutes before halftime when Merih Demiral was judged to have committed a foul, but after checking with VAR, the decision was reversed.
In the second half, Ivan Toney won a penalty for Al Ahli after being fouled by Persepolis defender Hossein Kanani. However, Mahrez’s penalty was saved by Persepolis goalkeeper Alexis Guendouz.
Toney, who was a big signing from Premier League club Brentford, had a great chance to score his first goal for Al Ahli with just five minutes left in the game, but his shot went wide. He had already made his debut for the club the previous Friday.
In another game, Al Ain began their title defense with a 1-1 draw at home against Qatar’s Al Sadd. Akram Afif, who was named the best player in Asia in 2019, scored the first goal of the match for Al Sadd after an hour of play. However, Al Ain leveled the score 10 minutes from the end through Argentine player Matias Palacios.
In a different match, Iran’s Esteghlal comfortably defeated Qatari team Al Gharafa 3-0.
The new tournament format features 24 teams, with 12 teams from West Asia and 12 from East Asia. Each team plays four home games and four away games, with the top eight teams from each region moving on to the knockout stages next year.
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