Al Ain starts title defence with draw against Al Sadd
Al Ain of the UAE began their title defence with a 1-1 draw against visiting Al Sadd of Qatar in the first round of the AFC Champions League For the elite football team in its new form, while Al-Nasr Saudi Arabia was satisfied in the absence of its Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo The infected team tied with the same result with its host, the Iraqi police.
Results of today’s matches in the AFC Champions League Elite (West)#AFC_Champions_League_Elite | #SSC pic.twitter.com/kl939JI3YB
— SSC (@ssc_sports) September 16, 2024
In the first match at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium, Argentine Matias Palacios (80) scored Al Ain’s goal, and Akram Afif (45+1) scored Al Sadd’s goal.
Al Ain won the title last season, for the second time after the first in 2003, at the expense of Yokohama Marius of Japan 6-3 on aggregate.
The match was full of attacking elements and the home team started to create opportunities after South Korean Park Young-woo intercepted the ball from the middle of the field and passed it to Moroccan Soufiane Rahimi who was alone and shot the post (11).
Malian Mohamed Camara tried to shoot from a distance after a pass from Afif, but Al Ain goalkeeper Khaled Issa brilliantly blocked his ball (20).
Rahimi, the top scorer in the last edition with 13 goals, returned to practice his identity in penetrating and shot a low shot that was pushed away by Al Sadd goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham to a corner (21).
Al Sadd became active and Afif shot and found the brilliance of goalkeeper Issa (35), but the Qatari international succeeded in his second attempt when Al Ain defender Kwame Otun made a mistake in passing the ball with his head, so he snatched it from him and passed it on the ground, and it returned to him after Colombian Fabio Cardoso failed to clear it away from his area. Afif shot it directly into the net (45+1).
Al Sadd lead 1-0 with a goal from Akram Afif#eye_of_the_dam#AFC_Champions_League_Elite pic.twitter.com/EZAzv5xG6P
— ADSportsTV (@ADSportsTV) September 16, 2024
Al Ain tried to equalize, but they collided with an organized defense from Al Sadd before Palacios broke their cohesion with a powerful shot that went into Barsham’s net (80), depriving the Qatari team of its first victory in Al Ain Stadium, after losing 0-2 in the 2003 edition and drawing 3-3 in 2020.
The leader is back..
Palacios’ shot finds Al Sadd’s net
Al Ain 1-1 Al Sadd #eye_of_the_dam#AFC_Champions_League_Elite pic.twitter.com/fhowkxMRpS
— ADSportsTV (@ADSportsTV) September 16, 2024
Victory draws and Al-Ahly wins
In the second match, which was held at the International City Stadium in Baghdad, Al-Nasr settled for a 1-1 draw with its host, the Iraqi police.
Victory took the lead through Sultan Al-Ghannam (14), and Adel Mohamed Dawood for the police (24).
Ronaldo missed the match due to a health problem, his club announced on Sunday on its Twitter account.
The club said, “The captain of the first team, Cristiano Ronaldo, suffered a health problem (viral infection), and after the club’s doctor followed up on his condition, it was decided that he needed to rest and not accompany the delegation to travel today.”
Medical report 📄 pic.twitter.com/rLDDdFcHHl
— Al-Nassr Saudi Club (@AlNassrFC) September 15, 2024
Spanish defender Aymeric Laporte also missed the match due to suspension after receiving a red card against Al Ain in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League last season.
The match started with great pressure from Al-Nasr, whose players had a large percentage of possession of the ball, while the home team retreated.
Al-Nassr opened the scoring through Sultan Al-Ghannam after a wonderful pass from the Portuguese Otavio Monteiro, which the former met with a powerful shot that found its way into the home team’s net, scoring the first goal of the tournament that was created this season with its new name.
Sultan Al-Ghannam scores for Al-Nassr with a powerful shot in the 14th minute#Police_Victory#AFC_Champions_League_Elite pic.twitter.com/ONRis27R4j
— ADSportsTV (@ADSportsTV) September 16, 2024
Brazilian Anderson Talisca wasted a chance to score the second goal after a cross from Mukhtar Ali, which he shot over the bar (18). Al-Shorta equalized when Mohammed Dawood took advantage of a mistake between the Al-Nasr duo, Frenchman Mohammed Simakan and Salem Al-Najdi, and shot the ball into the net of Brazilian goalkeeper Bento Matheus to equalize the score (24).
Police player Mohamed Dawood scores the equalizer against Al-Nasr after a great pass and a defensive mistake#Police_Victory#AFC_Champions_League_Elite pic.twitter.com/bBalrudMSF
— ADSportsTV (@ADSportsTV) September 16, 2024
The referee awarded a penalty kick to Mohamed Simakan before reversing it after resorting to the assistant referee technology (VAR) because the foul was committed outside the area.
Al-Nassr’s Portuguese coach, Luis Castro, brought on Brazilian winger Angelo Gabriel at the beginning of the second half of the match instead of Abdulrahman Ghareeb, in order to increase the offensive effectiveness and score the second goal.
Talisca returned to waste another goal for Al-Nasr after a mistake by the police defense, which was met with a shot that the police goalkeeper brilliantly blocked (49).
Al-Nassr lost the efforts of its Croatian midfielder, Marcelo Brozovic, and he was unable to complete the match, so the coach brought on Abdullah Al-Khaibari instead of him (53).
Al-Nasr maintained control but were unable to score the winning goal.
Al-Ahly beats Persepolis of Iran
In Jeddah, Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia defeated Persepolis of Iran with a single goal scored by its Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie two minutes after the start of the match at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium in front of 15,170 fans.
“And through time we will go together” 💚🗣
#AFC_Champions_League_Elite|#AlAhly_Persepolis pic.twitter.com/yy5jqga8FH
— AFC Champions League (@theAFCCL_ar) September 16, 2024
Al-Ahly returned to participate in the current edition of the AFC Champions League for the elite, after an absence that lasted since the 2021 season.
Al-Ahly opened the scoring early when Algerian Riyad Mahrez passed a perfect ball to Kessie, who fired it into the net after two minutes.
The referee awarded a penalty kick in favour of Persepolis after a mistake by Turkish defender Meric Demiral, but he reversed his decision after consulting VAR.
In the second half, Al-Ahly’s English striker Ivan Toney, who recently joined the club, fired a powerful shot after a wonderful pass from the Spaniard Gabriel Vega, but the Persepolis goalkeeper was on the lookout (53).
Al-Ahly got a penalty kick after a foul on Tony inside the area, but Mahrez wasted it (55).
Kessie hit a powerful shot that went wide of Persepolis’ goal.
Then Tony was alone in front of the goal, but he shot the ball outside the three posts (81).
Esteghlal of Iran achieved a clear victory over Al-Gharafa of Qatar with three clean goals scored by Al-Gharafa defender Abdullah Youssef (4 own goal), Ramin Rezaian (79) and Arash Rezavand (89).
