Al Nassr edge past Esteghlal as star attaction Cristiano Ronaldo plays his part in Dubai

Portuguese legend helps create Laporte's winner as Saudi side claim victory in AFC Champions League tie

Cristiano Ronaldo during Al Nassr's 1-0 Asian Champions League Elite win over Esteghlal at Rashid Stadium in Dubai on October 22, 2024. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Aymeric Laporte celebrates with Ronaldo and his Al Nassr teammates after scoring the only goal of the game. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo shoots for goal against Esteghlal. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Al Nassr manager Stefano Pioli saw his team make it seven points from a possible nine in ACL matches this season. EPA

Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo Brozovic celebrate after Aymeric Laporte's goal for Al Nassr. Reuters

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo cools off during the match. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo tries to control the ball. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Al Nassr's Nawaf Boushal under pressure fron Jaloliddin Masharipov of Esteghlal. EPA

Al Nassr fans during the match at Rashid Stadium in Dubai, Reuters

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo drew a blank against Esteghlal. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Al Nassr's Otavio under pressure from Abolfazl Jalali of Esteghlal. Reuters

The Esteghlal starting XI before the game. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The Al Nassr starting XI before the game. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The hottest ticket in town took a while to get warm, but Cristiano Ronaldo eventually gave the masses what they wanted as he helped Al Nassr to victory in Dubai.

In the 82nd minute of Tuesday night's AFC Champions League Elite game against Esteghlal at the home ground of Shabab Al Ahli, near Dubai International Airport, Ronaldo rose to meet a corner.

The Portuguese great turns 40 before the season is out, but many of the old trademark gifts still remain. His aerial ability and eye for goal are clearly intact.

His angled header towards the top corner was met by a fine save by Hossein Hosseini, the Iranian side’s captain-goalkeeper. As Ronaldo wheeled away in frustration at the fact he had been thwarted again by a stubborn Esteghlal side, Aymeric Laporte nipped in at the back post to head in.

The goal by the Spanish former Manchester City defender was all the Saudi Pro League giants needed to take all three points home with them courtesy of a 1-0 win.

It was a seventh match in a row Nassr have won since Stefano Pioli was appointed as their manager after a draw in the Champions League cost his predecessor, Luis Castro, his job.

The all-star side from Riyadh were deserving victors, too, even if they laboured to it. The biggest star of the lot played the full 90 minutes, and did his best to entertain those who had turned out to see him – most of whom had paid a pretty price for the privilege.

Even the very cheapest tickets, which were snapped up in double-quick time, were Dh90. That was three times the price of the standard rate of admission for the Champions League game in Al Ain 24 hours earlier.

That game, between Asian champions Al Ain and Saudi champs Al Hilal, had a fair sprinkling of stardust, too, with the likes of Neymar, Joao Cancelo and Soufiane Rahimi all involved. With tickets so fairly priced, the majority at Dh30, it sold to its 24,000 capacity well in advance of matchday.

Despite the fact Rashid Stadium only holds 12,000, there were still tickets for sale online on the day, albeit for Dh5,000. The official attendance figure was announced near the end of the game as a neatly rounded 8,000.

With Esteghlal having had to give up hosting rights because of security concerns over the conflict involving Israel, it was essentially a neutral fixture. As a result, there was no obvious partisan home backing, and the atmosphere had the feel of a testimonial fixture.

The side from Tehran did have some home comforts, of sorts. Dubai and Sharjah have staged a number of games involving Iranian teams in the past, so they know this neck of the woods, and they do have locally based supporters.

On the corner of the ground nearest the metro station, an entrepreneur was peddling Iran flags ahead of kick off, perhaps left over from when Team Melli played at this venue against Qatar last week.

That said, it was clear who the majority were here to see. The most popular shirt on show was the vivid yellow of Al Nassr, the majority with a No 7 and “Ronaldo” printed on the back.

And to say the majority were here to see the Portuguese superstar does not necessarily equate to supporting him. When the teams were lining up before kick off, there were chants of “Messi, Messi,” emanating from the stands, a theme that recurred whenever Ronaldo misplaced a pass, or fired a shot wide, or squabbled with teammates.

It grew legs. In the second half, when Ronaldo showed his frustrations at the referee with some pantomime gesticulations, the name of his Argentine nemesis peeled around the stands more loudly than at any other point.

Clearly, there was a large portion of fans wanting to pump Ronaldo up, too. They responded to the Messi chants by singing Ronaldo’s name, and bowing to him. For the most part, though, it was fairly quiet.

The eerie atmosphere was exacerbated when Mehrdad Mohammedi suffered serious injury early on. The Esteghlal winger went in full-blooded for a 50-50 with Laporte, and both reeled away in pain.

While Nassr’s Spanish defender recovered after treatment, Mohammedi was not so lucky. He was stretchered off in some distress before being transferred to an ambulance.

As he was being loaded into the golf buggy by the paramedics, Ronaldo grabbed Mohammedi’s hand and wished him well.

The tone was muted for much of the game thereafter, but at least Ronaldo gave the majority something to cheer in the end.