Al Nassr marked Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut in the AFC Champions League with a 2-0 away victory against Persepolis here in Tehran’s Azadi Stadium in Group E of the 2023/24 edition on Tuesday.

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The hosts suffered an early blow as experienced forward Mehdi Torabi had to be stretched off inside the opening 10 minutes following an injury, being replaced by Shahab Zahedi.

The turning point in the match arrived six minutes into the second half when Persepolis midfielder Milad Sarlak received his second booking of the night following a late challenge on Ronaldo, to leave his side with 10 men for the remainder of the game.

Abdulrahman Ghareeb slotted home the opener for the visitors in the 62nd minute and Mohammed Qassem made it 2-0 10 minutes later.

Al Nassr’s next game sees them welcoming Istiklol to the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, while Persepolis will look to make amends when they travel to Doha to face Al Duhail who had drawn 0-0 with Istiklol earlier on Tuesday.