Al Nassr taste victory over Persepolis in AFC Champions League opener

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr kicked off their AFC Champions League season with a 2-0 victory against Iran's Persepolis FC on Tuesday.

Neither team was able to produce a goal in the first 45 minutes at Tehran's Azadi Stadium and Persepolis were down to 10 men after Milad Sarlak received a red card.

Midfielder Sarlak brought down Cristiano Ronaldo in the 52nd minute.

Danial Esmaeilifar scored a 62-minute own goal and Mohammed Qassem netted in the 72nd minute as the match ended 2-0 in favor of the Saudi club.

The clash was played behind closed doors due to a ban imposed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Persepolis as a penalty for sharing a controversial post on social media about India.

The AFC decided on a formal complaint of FC Goa, a professional football club in the Indian Super League, objecting to the Iranian club's post glorifying the invasion of India before their match against the Indian club in 2021.