Joao Felix scored twice and created two more goals as Al Nassr claimed a convincing 6-2 victory away to Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in the AFC Champions League Elite on Monday.
The result gave Al Nassr their second win of the competition and moved them to six points, after their previous match against UAE club Al Wasl had been postponed. Despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr’s attacking quality proved too much for the home side.
Felix opened his influential display by setting up the first goal in the 15th minute. The Portugal international threaded an outstanding pass through to Abdullah Al-Hamdan, who finished emphatically to put the visitors ahead.
Just two minutes later, Felix took matters into his own hands. He evaded several Pakhtakor defenders inside the penalty area before calmly finding the net to double Al Nassr’s advantage.
The forward struck again in the 32nd minute, completing his brace after receiving a pass from Senegal international Sadio Mane. His fourth contribution came eight minutes after half-time, when his precise corner was met by Abdulilah Al-Amri, who headed the ball into the goal.
Al Nassr manager Ange Postecoglou made several changes during the second half, and substitute Abdulrahman Ghareeb extended the lead in the 62nd minute. Ghareeb finished after being played in by Mane, as Al Nassr continued to dominate their hosts in attack.
Angelo Gabriel completed the scoring in the 79th minute. He converted after an impressive individual piece of play from Al-Hamdan to confirm a comprehensive 6-2 victory.
The win continued an exceptional run of form for Felix, who has now contributed to eight goals across his past two matches. He provided four assists in Al Nassr’s victory over Al-Kholood in the 12th round of the Saudi Pro League before recording two goals and two assists against Pakhtakor.
It was the second consecutive time Felix had produced four goal contributions across two successive matches, and the fourth occasion in his professional career that he had achieved the feat.
His performance in Uzbekistan further underlined his importance to Postecoglou’s side, with Felix emerging as one of the main attacking players driving Al Nassr’s progress in their continental campaign.
