Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Jhon Duran struck twice and Cristiano Ronaldo added another as Al Nassr secured a dominant 3-0 victory over Esteghlal FC in the second leg of their AFC Champions League Elite 2024/25 Round of 16 tie at King Saud University Stadium on Monday.

The Saudi side, aiming for their first continental title, advanced with a 3-0 aggregate win and will learn their quarter-final opponents in Monday’s draw.

Ronaldo returned to the starting lineup after missing the goalless first leg in Tehran, leading the attack alongside Duran and Sadio Mane.

Despite the early pressure, it was Esteghlal who recorded the first attempt on goal in the second minute when Mehran Ahmadi cut inside the box from the right, only for his weak shot to be easily collected by Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento.

Al Nassr quickly took control of the match, consistently targeting Ronaldo with crosses. Their breakthrough arrived in the ninth minute when Esteghlal’s Seyed Hosseini misplaced a pass, allowing Duran to intercept and calmly lob the ball over the advancing goalkeeper.

Hosseini later denied Ronaldo’s powerful 18th-minute free-kick, but the Portuguese star’s persistence paid off when he intercepted Raphael Silva’s poor back pass and laid it off to Mane, who was brought down inside the penalty area by Mohammad Niknafs. Ronaldo stepped up and coolly converted the spot-kick to double Al Nassr’s lead.

Al Nassr continued to push forward, with Mohammed Al Fatil misdirecting a header from Marcelo Brozovic’s free-kick in the 34th minute, while Ronaldo fired into the side netting after another pass from Brozovic.

Esteghlal’s chances of making a comeback diminished further just before halftime when Ahmadi was shown a second yellow card for a reckless foul on Al Fatil, reducing the visitors to 10 men.

The Iranian side made changes at the restart, bringing on former Al Nassr midfielder Jaloliddin Masharipov, but Al Nassr came out firing once again. In the 48th minute, Brozovic tested Hosseini with a powerful long-range strike before Duran rattled the crossbar two minutes later.

Ronaldo had a golden opportunity to score his second in the 59th minute after being set up by Aiman Yahya inside the box, but Hosseini produced another brilliant save to deny him, also blocking Yahya’s close-range effort moments later.

Duran, a constant threat throughout the night, put the game to bed in the 84th minute when he latched onto a precise pass from Angelo inside the six-yard box and fired a low strike into the bottom left corner, sealing Al Nassr’s spot in the quarter-finals.