Cristiano Ronaldo’s AFC Champions League Elite campaign was turned into a nightmare by Al-Ain’s 4-0 win Tuesday in the UAE as the Saudi champions were demolished. The former Asian champions, Al-Ain, rolled out a stellar performance at home with Houssine Rahimi netting twice before Soufiane Rahimi and Giorgos Giakoumakis scored a remarkable four-goal win.
But the hosts got the break in the 25th minute when Saad Al-Nasser’s underhit back pass was met by Houssine Rahimi, who was able to run through and beat goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi between his legs. The forward struck again in the 63rd minute, and calmly side-footed it home from eight yards to maintain Al-Ain’s lead.
After an excellent through ball from Alejandro Romero, Soufiane Rahimi struck a third one from his own position. He was onside and took the pass first time before sending his finish into the bottom corner. Five minutes from the end of the game, Al-Nassr’s woes were finished. This time it was Soufiane who struck first, and Giakoumakis was in the area, delivering a shot that was not missed from 15 yards.
After the emphatic win, “We knew it was going to be difficult; we had to do our best, and I think we did,” Giakoumakis said. Al-Nassr’s opening game was a disaster as they were defeated 2-1 in Riyadh by fellow Saudi side Al-Hilal, who opened the league season with a 2-1 win over Al-Gharafa in Qatar.
Ruben Neves headed in from the spot to make it 1-0 before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed in a shot from the edge of the area to put Al-Hilal up 2-0. Ten players were left on the field at the end of the game when Crysencio Summerville and Ismael Bennacer were ejected for rough handling.
