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AFC/AFP
Doha
A brace from striker Santos Monteiro Junior Wanderley helped Al Nasr claim an emphatic 3-0 win over Qatar's El Jaish in the first leg of the 2016 AFC Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday as the Emiratis took a giant step towards reaching their first ever semi-final.
After a slow start at Lekhwiya Stadium, the game burst into life as half-time approached when Wanderley gave Al Nasr the lead.
Jonathan Pitroipa's second of the campaign put the visitors two up on 54 minutes, before Wanderley's double with six minutes remaining wrapped up a resounding victory ahead of the return fixture in Dubai on September 14.
Al Nasr enjoyed the majority of the early possession and new recruit Wanderley let fly from 20 yards in the sixth minute, but goalkeeper Khalifa Ababacar was down well to tip wide.
The hosts came back into the tie though and Uzbekistan international Sardor Rashidov's drilled effort from a narrow angle on 20 minutes forced Al Nasr custodian Ahmad Shambih into a smart save.
With 35 minutes on the clock, Khaled Al Zrigi burst through the middle with purpose for El Jaish and laid the ball off to Magid Mohamed, whose powerful strike from distance flew just over.
With the tie now having a more open feel to it, Al Nasr's Abdelaziz Barrada headed off target from Mahmoud Khamis' cross from the left two minutes later, before Al Nasr finally broke the deadlock in the 45th minute.
Captain Tariq Ahmed spotted the run of Pitroipa and played a sumptuous dinked ball over the top that the Burkina Faso international laid off first time, taking the outrushing Ababacar out of the game and allowing Wanderley to tap into an empty net.
By way of a response, El Jaish coach Sabri Lamouchi introduced former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita into the action at the start of the second half, but the move did not have the desired effect as Al Nasr doubled their lead nine minutes after the restart with a wonderfully worked goal.
Moroccan international Barrada received Pitroipa's pass down the right before squaring the ball back to the lively forward, who burst into the box and fizzed a shot into the bottom right corner from 16 yards to put the Emiratis in a commanding position.
Rashidov shot over from eight yards out with 15 minutes remaining as El Jaish sought to give themselves hope going into the second leg.
The hosts continued to push forward and substitute Yasir Isa was next to try his luck when he blasted over from outside the penalty area with eight minutes left to play.
However, El Jaish were duly caught out on the break in the 84th minute as Al Nasr substitute Salem Saleh found Wanderley with a lovely outside-of-the-foot ball and the frontman took one touch before coolly slotting home from six yards.
And with less than a minute left of the clock Ahmed Al Yassi cleared off the Al Nasr line from Keita's header to ensure Ivan Jovanovic's team will start next month's second leg three goals to the good.
Seoul in control after 3-1 win over Shandong
FC Seoul took a grip of their AFC Champions League quarter-final after overcoming Shandong Luneng 3-1 in the first leg in the Korean capital.
Goals from Park Chu-Young, Dejan Damjanovic and Brazilian top scorer Adriano gave them a deserved two-goal cushion to take to China for the second leg on September 14.
Adriano was dropped to the bench after a recent form slump despite 11 Champions League goals this campaign.
