Rahimi siblings help Al Ain rout Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in ACL clash

Soufiane Rahimi and his bother Houssine Rahimi combined to put up a sibling act against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr to help Al Ain notch up a facile 4-0 victory in their AFC Champions League Elite (ACL) match on Tuesday.

Rahimi siblings put a stellar performance as UAE’s Al Ain routed Saudi’s Al Nassr to mount a serious challenge for the continental title for the third time.

It was younger brother Houssine who broke the deadlock in the 25th minute to give Al Ain 1-0 lead in front of their fans in the jam-packed stadium.

Al Nassr kept on trying to equalise but they failed to penetrate the watertight defence of Al Ain. The score at the half-time read 1-0. Al Nassr were expecting a change of fortune with the change of the side. However, to their dismay, the second half turned out to be more horrific as Al Ain added three more goals.

Houssine struck again 13 minutes after the half-time to extend the lead to 2-0. With the time passing away quickly, Al Nassr had come up with some plan to not only stop Al Ain but also curtail the deficit.

Ronaldo failed to produce the same magic he is known for. His fans were disappointed. Seeing his brother, Soufiane also changed gears and dispatched a shot into the post to make it 3-0 in the 72nd minute. With only 15 minutes left, the pressure was increasing on Al Nassr.

Greek footballer Giorgos Giakoumakis added one five minutes from the final whistle as Al Ain defeated Al Nassr 4-0. With the victory, Al Ain have gone to the top of their group.

Shabab Al Ahli pip Tractor FC

UAE’s Shabab Al Ahli also opened their ACL Elite campaign with a 1-0 win over Iran’s Tractor FC on Monday.

Yuri Cesar’s opportunistic 22nd-minute strike at the Rashid Stadium capped a well-rounded display by the UAE side in their competition opener as they look to lift their first continental trophy.

Semi-finalists in the last edition, Shahab Al Ahli immediately edged possession and their pressing seemed to have paid off in the seventh minute when Sardar Azmoun nodded home, only for his effort to be ruled offside.

Azmoun tried again in the 19th minute, charging down the right but finding no takers for his diagonal pass before Rikelme rattled the bar a minute later from some 35 yards as Shabab Al Ahli intensified their attacks.

They finally made the breakthrough in the 22nd minute when Yuri Cesar, capitalising on a fumble by Tractor captain Shojae Khalilsadeh, pounced on the loose ball on the left and steered his shot from just outside the six-yard box past keeper Parsa Jafari and into the bottom right.

Tractor struggled to find their way into the opposing box, with Tomislav Strkalj finally doing so in the 40th minute after connecting to Mohammad Naderi’s pass but the striker’s hesitant effort was easily collected by keeper Matheus Donelli. Jafari made his first save three minutes after the break when he pushed away Yuri Cesar’s stinging attempt from outside the area before the UAE winger set up Saeid Ezatolahi in the 58th minute, who skewed his shot wide of the right post.

Tractor’s Mohammad Daneshgar came close to an equaliser in the 79th minute when he came from behind the defence only to skim his header against the bar, with Mehdi Shiri seeing his fiercely-struck 25-yard shot two minutes later tipped over by Donelli.

The top eight finishers in the 16-team eastern league phase will advance to the knockout rounds, with the tournament’s quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to be played in Saudi Arabia in April and May.

Mixed feelings for Shabab Al Ahli’s Jardine: Andre Jardine admitted he had mixed feelings despite Shabab Al Ahli opening their campaign with win.

“The team achieved the objective, which was to win, but we should have scored more goals as we dominated the game.

“It was a tough game but we had some excellent spells. We were clearly in control for the first 35 minutes before losing some of that grip towards the end of the first half, a recurring issue in recent matches that we need to address,” said Jardine.

Despite Shabab Al Ahli’s dominance, Iran’s Tractor had their moments and Jardine felt that his side could have avoided the tenseness by finishing their chances.