Al-Hilal win to keep in touch at the top

Al-Nassr booked their AFC Champions League Elite quarter-final place on Monday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Esteghlal of Iran.

After a frustrating first leg ended 0-0 in Tehran a week earlier, Jhon Duran and Cristiano Ronaldo did the damage in Riyadh to dump the visitors out of the tournament.

Duran opened the scoring after just nine minutes in spectacular fashion. The Colombian, signed from Aston Villa in January, found space on the right corner of the penalty area and produced an exquisite lob that the goalkeeper got a hand to but could not prevent crossing the line.

After Sadio Mane was fouled in the area, Ronaldo, who missed the first leg in Iran, kept his cool and produced a perfect Panenka penalty into the center of the goal to bag his seventh goal of the tournament so far. 

What was already a tough task became mission impossible for the Tehran club after they were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half time. Mehran Ahmadi was shown a second yellow and as he exited the pitch, with a consoling arm of Ronaldo around his shoulders, he took the slim hopes of Esteghlal with him.

It was then a case of damage limitation and Al-Nassr remained in total control of the tie. Five minutes after the restart, Duran fired a fierce shot against the bar from just outside the area.

The Colombian got his second five minutes from the end. He was found in space on the right side of the penalty area and fired a low shot into the far corner in emphatic fashion.

It ended a perfect evening for the Yellows — seeking a first Asian championship — who are the first Saudi Arabian club to make the last eight.

Al-Ahli are expected to join them on Tuesday after winning their first leg 3-1 against Al-Rayyan of Qatar last week. Al-Hilal, however, have much more work to do after losing 1-0 at the Uzbekistan home of Pakhtakor.

Elsewhere, Al-Sadd of Qatar defeated Dubai’s Al-Wasl 3-1 to take the tie 4-2 on aggregate.

Al-Ittihad rescued a point with a 1-1 draw in their Saudi Pro League clash at Al-Qadsiah on Thursday, thanks to a 96th-minute strike from N’Golo Kante that canceled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opening goal, which came just five minutes earlier.

The late equalizer from the former Chelsea and Leicester City midfielder moved Al-Ittihad seven points clear at the top of the table but Al-Hilal have a chance to close the gap to four when they travel to Al-Fayha on Friday. The league leaders have drawn their last three games.

Al-Qadsiah, who would have moved into second place with a victory, remain in third, level on points with Al-Hilal. And they should have won, because the visitors were second-best for the majority of the game in Dammam.

The hosts dominated the first half to the extent that the visitors from Jeddah would surely have been relieved if they had found themselves only a goal down at the break, yet somehow they were still level at the end of the half.

Al-Qadsiah’s forwards certainly had their chances but were unable to make them count. Mexican marksman Julian Quinones has been in fine form in the league but could not find a way past Predrag Rajkovic in goal, or the woodwork. It was not only the forwards who missed good chances; defender Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat had a shot cleared off the line.

The home side were almost made to pay for their misses when Karim Benzema found Fawaz Al-Saqour unmarked in the area, only for the ball to bounce off his knee with the goal at his mercy.

As chances came and went there was always a possibility that Al-Ittihad might snatch a goal. Houssem Aouar, for example, was on target early in the second half with a shot from outside the area, forcing a save from Koen Casteels.

Still Al-Qadsiah continued to push forward until finally, in the first minute of added time, they got their just rewards. Nahitan Nandez sent in a low cross into the center of the area from the right and Aubameyang was waiting to guide the ball into the bottom corner of the net with a first-time shot.

That looked to be that but while Al-Ittihad might not be at their best right now, their fighting spirit is still very much in evidence. They grabbed their late equalizer when Benzema crossed from the left and found Kante, unmarked inside the six-yard box, who stabbed home to gift his team what had looked to be an unlikely point.