AFC Champions League Elite
Held to a goalless draw in last week’s first leg, Duran netted the first and third goals with Cristiano Ronaldo converting a penalty as Al Nassr matched last season’s feat of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
It was a thoroughly convincing performance and Duran warned that Al Nassr will be a force in the quarter-finals.
#ACLElite | R16, 2nd Leg: Al Nassr Club (KSA) 3 - 0 Esteghlal FC (IRN)
"I am happy with the result, and we worked well today, and step by step we will improve and develop,” said Duran. “Nothing has changed between the first and second leg matches, the only thing that has changed is scoring goals.
"Things have not changed between my time in England and now in Saudi Arabia, here there are great players and all the matches are difficult, and the league here is difficult and beautiful."
It was a sentiment echoed by head coach Stefano Pioli, who is now focused on erasing last season’s quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Al Ain FC.
"I am very happy with the qualification, our goal was to go to the final stages in Jeddah and we achieved this,” said Pioli.
"I always have great confidence in the players because of our hard work in training, and sometimes the results do not do us justice but we know that we are on the right path.
"For now, the next league match is the most important but after the international break, we will get back some players who we are missing, and we hope to go as far as possible in this competition.”
Defeat for Esteghlal means the Islamic Republic of Iran side’s wait for another continental trophy continues after having won the 1990/91 Asian Club Championship.
Head coach Miodrag Bozovic knew it was an uphill battle after he saw his side trail 2-0 before the half an hour mark, noting that the red card shown to Mehran Ahmadi late in the first half further complicated matters.
"There is not much to say, we conceded two goals at the beginning of the match, then one of the players was sent off which made the match difficult for us, and Al Nassr deserved to win,” said Bozovic.
"Al Nassr handled this match correctly, and the match ended early after the two goals and the red card.
"We had a negative thing in this match, which was losing tackles, and whoever loses tackles always loses the match.”
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