AFC Champions League: Ronaldo powers Al Nassr to 5-1 win over Al Ain

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to scoring form to lead Al Nassr to a dominant 5-1 victory against Al Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite.

The Portuguese forward, who hadn’t scored in his past three games, capitalized on a rebound from a Sadio Mane shot to net Al Nassr’s second goal, extending their unbeaten start to the competition.

Al Nassr’s early momentum was set by Brazilian Anderson Talisca, who scored five minutes in with a precise finish.

Ronaldo doubled the advantage at the half-hour mark after a handling error by Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Essa, who failed to stop Mane’s long-range attempt.

Al Nassr struck again soon after, as Angelo Gabriel, on loan from Chelsea, helped force an own goal off Al Ain’s Fabio Cardoso.

The victory lifts Al Nassr to third in the AFC Champions League Elite West Asia table, with Al Hilal and Al Ahli ahead.

Al Ain pulled one back at the start of the second half, when Park Yong-woo’s shot struck the upright and cannoned back off Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento for the game’s second own goal.

However, Brazilian teenager Wesley, introduced moments before, curled home eight minutes from time before Talisca rounded off the night deep into stoppage time with his second.

With the loss, Al Ain languish at the bottom of the West Asia standings having taken a solitary point from a possible 12. A third successive defeat ramps up the pressure on manager Hernan Crespo, who in May guided the club to a first Asian crown in 21 years.

– Vissel go top in East –

Meanwhile, in East Asia, domestic title-holders Vissel Kobe beat South Korea’s Gwangju FC 2-0 at the top of their group stage on a good night for Japanese teams.

Kawasaki Frontale scored three times in the first half at home on the way to a 3-1 victory over newly crowned Chinese champions Shanghai Port. Akihiro Ienaga, Yusuke Segawa and Sai van Wermeskerken were on the scoresheet.

In Kobe, the hosts and J. League champions triumphed through a Taisei Miyashiro penalty and a Daiju Sasaki header. The victory left Vissel top of the 12 teams in the East zone at the halfway point, while Gwangju dropped to second.

Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim moved up to third with a 3-0 home victory over South Korea’s Ulsan, who are rooted to the bottom without a point.

Central Coast Mariners scored deep in injury time as they roared back to grab a 2-2 home draw with Shanghai Shenhua to finally get a point on the board.

Bailey Brandtman poked home for the Australians in the 95th minute after the hosts had been 2-0 down. That left Shenhua fourth in the group while the Mariners are one off the bottom.