Cristiano Ronaldo’s honesty helped to nullify a penalty he was awarded as his 10-man Al-Nassr side held on to draw with Persepolis of Iran 0-0 in the Asian Champions League on Monday.
Ronaldo went down in the box in the opening moments and the referee pointed to the spot, but Ronaldo joined Persepolis players in disputing the penalty. Referee Ma Ning checked the pitchside monitor and overturned his decision.
Al-Nassr defender Ali Lajimi was sent off in the half for a dangerous challenge on Milad Sarlak, and Ronaldo gave his Saudi Arabia team a late scare when he exited with a neck injury. But Al-Nassr had already qualified for the knockout stages as the Group E winner and advanced unbeaten. The Riyadh team came into the game having won 18 of its previous 19 games in all competitions.
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In the same group, Qatar’s Al-Duhail earned its first win after defeating Istiklol of Tajikistan 2-0. Prolific Kenyan striker Michael Olunga scored both goals. Earlier in Group C, Argentine coach Marcelo Gallardo picked up his first win since being appointed by Al-Ittihad this month after the Saudi Arabian champion defeated AGMK of Uzbekistan 2-1 to move into the knockout stages.
