In a thrilling match on Monday, Al-Nassr, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, lost 3-1 on penalties against Al-Ain, sending the Saudi Pro League club out of the Asian Champions League in the quarterfinals. Al-Nassr overturned a 1-0 first leg disadvantage to win 4-3 on Monday, nevertheless, the game finished 4-4 overall, causing a shootout, which Al-Ain won.
Al-Nassr’s foreign players Miroslav Brozovic, Alex Telles, and Otavio all failed to score from the spot as the UAE club proceeded to the semi-finals, where they will take on either Al-Hilal or Al-Ittihad — both from Saudi Arabia — next month.
Al-Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa made amends for a bad performance by saving Brozovic’s first penalty, and with Soufiane Rahimi, Kaku and Sultan Al Shamsi all converting, Otavio’s mistake meant Al-Nassr were out.
The shootout brought a dramatic climax to a spectacular match at Al-Awwal Park that included seven goals and one red card, with Al-Ain extending their first-leg advantage over the first 45 minutes.
Rahimi, who scored the first leg winner for Al-Ain, pushed the visitors ahead with goals in the 28th and 45th minutes, but Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s strike five minutes into injury time kept Al-Nassr’s hopes alive.
Khaled Eisa diverted Otavio’s low drive into his own goal six minutes after the restart, and Alex Telles levelled the aggregate score 18 minutes later with a low free kick that flew through a crowd of players to beat Eisa.
Al-Nassr’s Ayman Yahya got a red card eight minutes into extra time for a brutal two-footed lunge on Bandar Al-Ahbabi, and a minute later, Al-Shamsi thought he had scored the winner when he scored home after Raghid Najjar made a handling blunder.
But with two minutes left, Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot after Saeed Jumaa had brought down the Portuguese striker in the area, forcing a shootout.
