Ronaldo convinces ref to overturn penalty in Al Nassr draw

Cristiano Ronaldo’s honesty helped overturn a penalty awarded to him as his 10-man Al-Nassr side held on to draw 0-0 with Iran’s Persepolis in the Champions League. Asian champions Monday.

Ronaldo fell in the box in the opening moments and the referee pointed to the spot, but Ronaldo joined the Persepolis players to contest the penalty. Referee Ma Ning checked the courtside monitor and overturned his decision.

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Al-Nassr defender Ali Lajimi was sent off in half-time for a dangerous challenge on Milad Sarlak, and Ronaldo gave his Saudi Arabia side a late scare by coming off with a neck injury.

The draw sees Al Nassr advance to the round of 16 as winners of Group E with one match remaining. The Riyadh team came into the match having won 18 of their previous 19 matches in all competitions.

In the same group, Qatar’s Al-Duhail scored their first victory after beating Istiklol of Tajikistan 2-0. Prolific Kenyan striker Michael Olunga scored both goals.

Earlier in Group C, Argentine coach Marcelo Gallardo claimed his first victory since being appointed by Al-Ittihad this month after the Saudi Arabian champions beat AGMK of Uzbekistan 2-1 to secure qualify for the round of 16.

Two goals in four first-half minutes from Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamdallah gave Al-Ittihad the lead after Karim Benzema missed chances.

At the end of the match in Tashkent, Martin Boakye scored a goal for AGMK.

“We had to work hard from the first whistle, but we kept trying to advance as much as possible and Hamdallah succeeded with two well-taken goals,” Gallardo said.

The top team from each of the tournament’s 10 groups of four, divided into geographic halves until the final, advances to the round of 16 along with the six highest-placed finalists.