On December 5, the AFC Champions League group stage ushered in the final round of matches, which was really exciting and dizzying. First up is Riyadh Crescent's match against Mazandaran. At the start of the game, Blake provided an assist with a beautiful cross and Michael received the ball and volleyed home to give Riyadh Crescent a dream start.
Unfortunately, Al-Shehri fell to the ground in the penalty area, and after VAR intervened, the referee cancelled the penalty after a replay. However, this did not affect the morale of Riyadh Crescent, and in the 53rd minute, Dawasari scored a goal to extend the score.
Although Rahmati pulled a goal back in the 77th minute of the closing stages, at the end of the game, Riyadh Crescent won 2-1 against Mazandaran to make it 15 wins in a row! In the other game, Uzbek team Namangan New Year reversed Mumbai City 2-1, and finally the group stage of Group D was over, Riyadh Crescent won 5 wins and 1 draw and accumulated 16 points to advance directly to the round of 16, while Namangan New Year won 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss accumulated 1
Three points secured a second-place finish from the best group in West Asia, with Mazendaran and Bombay City out. This was followed by Jeddah United's match against Sepahan. In the 14th minute, Saleh Amri's free-kick flew straight into the back of the net, allowing Jeddah United to quickly establish a one-goal advantage.
However, when approaching the midfield, Hamed fell to the ground in the penalty area, and after VAR intervened, referee Ma Ning *** replayed it and judged it to be a fake fall and showed a yellow card. Rezayan equalised with a header in the 48th minute of the second half, and in the 69th minute, Jota stabbed the ball in front of the goalkeeper to give Jeddah United a 2-1 win over Sepahan at full-time.
In Group C, Jeddah United topped the tournament with 5 wins and 1 loss with 15 points, while Sepahan retained their hopes of promotion with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses with 10 points, while the Baghdad Air Force was eliminated in 3rd place and Almarek was eliminated with 0 points from all six defeats. Finally, there are Nassaf vs. Saad and Faisari Sport vs. Sharjah.
In this game, Nassaf drew 2-2 with Saad, while Faisarispor came from behind to beat Sharjah 2-1. Nassaf finished first in the group with 11 points from 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss to advance to the knockout round, while Sade was temporarily ranked 2nd and only had the possibility of theoretical promotion, while Sharjah and Faisarispor were eliminated in 3rd and 4th place respectively.
So far, nine seats have been awarded in the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League, namely Pohang Iron Man, Kawasaki Frontale and Bangkok United from East Asia, as well as Riyadh Victory, Riyadh Crescent, Jeddah United, Al Ain, Nassaf and Namangan New Year from West Asia. These competitions are really enjoyable to watch and exciting!