Cristiano Ronaldo scored Al-Nassr’s second goal as the Saudi Pro League champions overcame an hour-long security ​delay to beat Uzbekistan’s Neftchi 3-1 in the AFC Champions League Elite ‌on Monday (October 12, 2026).

Kick-off was delayed after Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence ​issued a safety warning 15 minutes before the scheduled ⁠start time in Riyadh, which has been targeted by missiles fired from Yemen-based Houthis in recent days.

Ange Postecoglou’s side shook off the interruption to ‌go in front through Angelo in the 33rd minute with a deflected strike before Ronaldo doubled the lead ‌nine minutes later.

The 41-year-old struck after Sadio Mane delivered a ‌looping ⁠cross from the left that Aiman Yahya directed into ⁠Ronaldo’s path with his chest and the Portuguese forward lashed the ball into the bottom corner with a shot on the turn.

Alisher Odilov pulled one back ​for Neftchi six minutes into ‌the second half but Ikromjon Alibaev’s red card for a foul on Mohamed Simakan in the 65th minute and an own goal by Anvarjon Gofurov 13 minutes later sealed the ‌win for Al-Nassr.

Meanwhile, defending champions Al-Ahli scored twice in the ​second half to pick up their first win of the new campaign as Marino Pusic’s side beat ⁠Al-Wasl from the United Arab Emirates 3-1.

Roger Ibanez put Al-Ahli ahead with a 20th minute header but Pedro Malheiro levelled in the ‌third minute of first-half stoppage time.

Goals from Trincao and Feras Al-Brikan in the 58th and 91st minutes respectively moved Al-Ahli onto four points from their opening two matches.

“We created also in the first half but in the second half we made our goals and I think that was the difference,” said Trincao. “Physically we ‌were a little bit better and that was the key to changing the ​game.”

Houssine Rahimi scored twice as Al-Ain defeated Air Force Club 4-1 in Basra, while Hossein Goudarzi’s 60th minute ⁠goal earned Iran’s Esteghlal a 2-1 win over Al-Gharafa.

A last minute ⁠penalty from Dostonbek Khamdamov salvaged a 1-1 draw for Pakhtakor against Brendan Rodgers’ Al-Qadsiah in Tashkent while Tractor from ‌Iran were held to a 0-0 draw by Qatar’s Al-Shamal.

The top eight finishers in the 16-team league phase in both ​east and west Asia will progress to the knockout rounds.

(Reporting by Michael Church, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Cristiano Ronaldo returned to club soccer action on Friday (October 10, 2026) after a controversial international break with Portugal and scored the opening goal as Al-Nassr beat Diriyah 3-0 in the Saudi Pro League.

The victory put the defending champions level on points behind leader Al-Qadsiah on goal difference in the eighth round.

During the international window, the 41-year-old Ronaldo walked out of the Portugal squad, for which he has scored 146 goals in 234 appearances.

In a long statement posted on Tuesday, Ronaldo said recently hired coach Jorge Jesus hadn’t been true to his word about when he would play the striker in the Nations League.

Ronaldo won the Saudi Arabia title in May with Jesus as Al-Nassr coach and opened the scoring on Friday midway through the first half.

Kingsley Coman’s shot from outside the area was blocked by goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah and Ronaldo was there to shoot home the rebound from close range for goal number 980 in his career.

Samu Costa added a second for Al-Nassr, coached by former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou, just before the break and Coman sealed the win with 13 minutes remaining.

Al-Qadsiah earlier thrashed Al-Kholood 5-0 with Dutch international Tijjani Reijnders opening the scoring and Italy’s Mateo Retegui and Mexico’s Julian Quinones also finding the target.