FC Goa put up a commendable fight against Al Nassr in their first AFC Champions League 2 encounter, losing the match by a narrow 1-2 margin. However, it was blown away in the reverse match as Al Nassr recorded a resounding 4-0 win at Al Awwal Park on Wednesday.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb bagged a brace while Mohammed Marran and Joao Felix scored one goal each to guide their team to three points.
Indian football fans, especially those of FC Goa, were once again disappointed as Cristiano Ronaldo was not named in the matchday squad by head coach Jorge Jesus.
It was a brave start from FC Goa, who refused to sit back despite outplaying a formidable opponent, but it didn’t take long for Al Nassr to settle into the match.
The home side dominated Goa in all departments from open play but took the lead in the 35th minute from a free kick, which was given after Javier Siverio brought down Abdullah Al Khaibari.
AS IT HAPPENED: NAS VS FCG HIGHLIGHTS
In Ronaldo’s absence, Ghareeb stood over the ball and found the net with a shot, the ball hitting the underside of the crossbar and rattling the net. Goa goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari was a mere spectator when the ball flew in.
A 1-0 score at halftime did not tell the whole story of Al Nassr’s dominance, but the home team failed to create scoring opportunities from open play.
That changed in the second half.
In the 53rd minute, Al Nassr doubled the lead. Goa’s defense was caught napping, allowing Ali Al Hassan to fire an excellent through ball to Ghareeb in the box, the latter finishing with panache by grabbing his brace.
It wasn’t until the 63rd minute that Goa got its first shot on target, with Dezan Drazic firing in a curling effort from the left side of Al Nassr’s penalty area. However, the effort lacked the necessary inflection to trouble Raghid Najjar.
Two minutes later, Al Nassr scored the third. Nawaf Boushal used his pace to beat Drazic on the right and delivered a low cross into the penalty area. Pol Moreni tried to anticipate the ball, but his touch ultimately sent the ball into the path of Marran, who found the net with a first-time finish.
In the 73rd minute, Jesus introduced his big guns, bringing on Sadio Mane and Felix, and it didn’t take long for them to show their class.
In the 84th minute, Mane turned back the years with a brilliant approach, wrong-footing his marker and tapping a measured cross to Felix, who met the ball for the first time and rattled the net with an acrobatic finish.
Ghareeb had a chance to grab a hat-trick in second-half stoppage time but failed to find the target after finding himself in a one-on-one scenario with Tiwari.
The win keeps Al Nassr at the top of Group D with twelve points from four games. FC Goa are at the bottom and the points total remains at zero.
Published on November 6, 2025
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