Anderson Talisca Lifts Al Nassr With Cristiano Ronaldo Away

Brazilian striker Anderson Talisca shone for Al Nassr in Cristiano Ronaldo's absence in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday, striking a hat-trick in their 3-2 victory against Al Duhail in Qatar. The Saudi Pro League side, who chose to rest in-form captain Ronaldo, rebounded from Philippe Coutinho's early opener at the Khalifa International Stadium to keep intact their 100 per cent record in this year's competition. Nassr now have 12 points from four matches to sit top of Group E.

Ronaldo, who scored twice two weeks ago in Riyadh in the Saudi Arabian club's 4-3 home win against the same opponents, was rested for the corresponding fixture by Nassr manager Luis Castro.

On Tuesday, Duhail went ahead on eight minutes through Coutinho, when the former Liverpool and Barcelona midfielder slid in to finish Michael Olunga's low cross for his first Asian Champions League goal. The Nassr bench were in uproar, though, believing Olunga had fouled defender Mohammed Al Fatil in the build-up.

However, the visitors completely turned around the tie in a 10-minute spell late in the first half. First, Talisca exchanged passes with Abdulrahman Ghareeb at the edge of the Duhail area and curled a superb right-footed shot low into the bottom corner. Then, he collected a short pass from Sadio Mane and, from almost the exact position as his first, skidded a left-footed drive beyond rooted goalkeeper Salah Zakaria.

Taslica completed his hat-trick on 65 minutes, sweeping home a fine move after another one-two with Ghareeb. The treble lifted Talisca to six goals in his past three Champions League matches.

Duhail did pull a goal back through Coutinho's 80th-minute penalty following Marcelo Brozovic's handball, but the home side later had substitute