Michael Olunga provided an early assist and had a few missed opportunities for Al Duhail as they suffered their third consecutive defeat, falling 3-2 to an Al Nassr side without Cristiano Ronaldo in the Asian Champions League.
Al Duhail, led by Michael Olunga, now finds themselves on the brink of early elimination from the Asian Champions League after enduring their third successive loss, this time succumbing 3-2 to Al Nassr on Tuesday.
Despite the absence of the rested Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Duhail struggled to match the star-studded Saudi Arabian team. However, they got off to a promising start with Olunga assisting Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who found the net just eight minutes into the game.
Coutinho’s goal came after he outpaced Al Nassr’s Alex Telles to connect with a swerving pass from Olunga. Olunga had won the ball in the final third and provided a right-footed shot from the center of the box to score.
Despite taking the lead, Al Nassr continued to press forward in search of an equalizer. In the 16th minute, Talisca had a chance to level the score but his header from the center of the box, off a cross from Alex Telles, went high and wide to the left.
Olunga came close to scoring in the 23rd minute as he attempted a header from a cross from the left, but his effort was blocked.
Four minutes later, Talisca found the equalizer for Al Nassr. The Brazilian attacking midfielder received the ball from outside the penalty box from Abdulrahman Ghareeb and took a long-range right-footed shot that sensationally found the bottom right corner of the goal, drawing his team level.
Talisca added his second goal in the 37th minute to put Al Nassr in front. He received a well-timed pass from Senegal’s Sadio Mane in an unmarked position just outside Al Duhail’s 18-yard box and wasted no time in blasting a long-range shot into the bottom right corner of goalkeeper Salah Zakaria’s goal.
Al Duhail had a chance to equalize just before halftime when Olunga attempted a cross from the left intended for Ismael Mohammad on the right, who had made a run behind the defense, but his header missed the target.
In the second half, Al Duhail came out with more determination, but to the disappointment of the home crowd, Al Nassr capitalized on a counter-attack in the 65th minute, with Talisca completing his hat-trick.
Al Duhail managed to reduce the deficit from the penalty spot in the 80th minute, with Coutinho scoring his second goal after Marcelo Brozovic of Al Nassr conceded a penalty due to a handball in the penalty area.
In added time, Al Duhail was reduced to 10 men when captain Khaled Mohammed received a red card for violent conduct against Al Nassr’s Otavio.
This defeat leaves Al Duhail in a precarious position, as they are at the bottom of Group E with only one point after four rounds of matches. They will need to secure big-margin victories against Iranian side Persepolis, who are second in the group with seven points, and Istiklol from Tajikistan, who have two points. Additionally, they will need both of these teams to lose in order to have any chance of progressing.
Al Nassr, on the other hand, leads the standings with a perfect 12 points after winning all of their group games so far.
