Hernan Crespo hails 'incredible' Al Ain performance against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr

Hernan Crespo hailed his Al Ain side’s “incredible” performance in the Asian Champions League quarter-final first-leg win against Al Nassr, but warned the tie is far from over.

The UAE club defeated their star-studded Saudi Arabian counterparts 1-0 at a packed Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Monday night, with Sofiane Rahimi’s goal in first-half stoppage time proving decisive.

Asian champions in 2003, Al Ain were well worth the memorable victory, provided a display full of grit and fine play, too. The hosts had two goals disallowed for offside, although to secure the win, they did need goalkeeper Khalid Essa to make two superb saves to deny Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo. The Riyadh side also had Aymeric Laporte sent off in injury time for an elbow on Al Ain full-back Bandar Al Ahbabi.

Al Ain travel to the Saudi capital at the weekend for Monday’s return leg at what is sure to be a sold-out Al Awwal Park.

“It was a very tough match and an incredible performance,” Crespo said afterwards. “The players showed a great night against a good opponent with a lot of stars. And we deserved to win. We played very well, played really good football.

“But it’s not finished. It’s only the first half and then we need to finish this history there. It will not be easy.”

Missing star striker Kodjo Laba through injury, Al Ain were excellent right the way through the side, with Rahimi leading the line brilliantly in the Togo forward's absence. South Americans Kaku and Matias Palacios provided more than able support in attack, while South Korean Park Yong-woo got the better of Portugal international Otavio in midfield.

Al Ain’s defence, led expertly by Khaled Al Hashimi, confined Ronaldo to few chances, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner