Al-Nassr Saudi regained its vigor and achieved its first win in this season’s AFC Champions League Elite after defeating its guest Navichi Fergana from Uzbekistan by three goals to one. This important victory came in an exciting match held this evening as part of the second round of the group stage for the western zone, confirming the team’s ability to compete after a shaky start in the continental tournament.
The match started at “First Park” stadium after a one-hour delay from its original schedule due to a security alert in the capital Riyadh. Despite the limited crowd attendance, Al-Nassr Saudi managed to secure the first half with a clean sheet, opening the scoring by Angelo Gabriel and then the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo strengthened the lead before the end of the half.
In the second half, the Uzbek team tried to come back into the game and managed to reduce the deficit with a goal in the 51st minute. However, Navichi’s hopes for a comeback quickly faded as they received two painful blows; the first was the sending off of their player Ikromjon Alibaev, followed by a second blow when their player Anvar Jofurov scored an own goal, expanding Al-Nassr’s lead once again.
With this result, Al-Nassr Saudi turned the page on the heavy loss it suffered against Al Ain of the UAE in the first round, collecting its first three points on its Asian journey. The team now looks forward to continuing its good form in the third round at the end of this month, where it will host Al Wasl in an anticipated match, while Navichi will visit Ittihad Jeddah in a new challenge for both teams in this group.
