The spotlight was on Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as Saudi giants Al Nassr arrived in the UAE for the AFC Champions League clash against Al Ain FC.
But on Tuesday when the battle began, it was Moroccan star Houssine Rahimi who stole Ronaldo’s thunder, scoring twice as Al Al outclassed Al Nassr 4-0 at the majestic Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
Rahimi netted in the 25th minute and followed up with a second after the break before his brother Soufiane added a third in the 72nd minute, with Giorgos Giakoumakis wrapping up five minutes before the end to give the former champions from the UAE a well-deserved opening win.
A flying start by both sides saw Rahimi hitting the post from just outside the right of the six-yard area in the second minute after picking up a defence-splitting pass from Alejandro Romero.
The hosts’ Valentino Lazaro’s powerful shot then deflected off Abdulelah Al Amr in the 13th minute before play swung to the other end four minutes later, where Inigo Martínez’s header off a corner was palmed away by keeper Khalid Eisa.
Al Ain, with an edge in possession, were gifted the first goal in the 25th minute after a backpass from an unaware Saad Al Nasser on the right was intercepted by Rahimi, who drilled the ball through Nawaf Al Aqidi’s legs and into the left corner.
The Saudi Arabia outfit came close to an equaliser in the 38th minute when Mohamed Simakan rose high to head over the bar off a corner, while their captain Ronaldo was caught offside moments later.
An initial red card for Al Nasser for an elbow to Lazaro’s face two minutes before the break was downgraded to yellow after a VAR review before Al Ain’s Abdoul Traore closed the half by skewing his shot over the bar.
Al Ain displayed the same intensity in the second half as they did in the first but failed to create any clear chances, with Rahimi directing his first-time shot straight to the Al Nassr custodian in the 60th minute following a cross from Yahya Ben Khale.
The striker, however, made amends three minutes later again with a first-timed shot, which flew past a diving Al Aqidi following a pass from the right by Alejandro Romero across the face of goal.
Soufiane made it a family affair in the 72nd minute, when off a pass from Romero again, he came in from the left behind Simakan and swept the ball into the bottom right corner.
Al Ain put the result beyond doubt in the 85th minute when Giakoumakis exchanged passes with Soufiane before drilling a low shot into the left corner past a rooted Al Aqidi. (with inputs from AFC website)
Source: Khaleej Times