FCG 0-4 NSR, AFC Champions League Two Highlights: Al Ghareeb's Brace Helps Al-Naasr Crush FC Goa In One-Sided Affair

A very good evening to all our readers and welcome to the live coverage of the AFC Champions League Two matchday 4 Group D match between FC Goa and Al Nassr at the Al-Awwal Park. Stay tuned with us for the build-up, playing XIs, live scores and updates.

Fixture: FC Goa Vs Al Nassr, Group D

Venue: Al-Awwal Park, Riyadh

Date: Wednesday, November 05, 2025

Time: 11:45 PM IST

Live Streaming: FanCode app/website

FC Goa: L, L, W, W, L

Al-Nassr: W, W, W, L, W

Starting XI: Hrithik (GK), Boris, Ronney, Sandesh (C), Pol, Aakash, Dejan, Borja, Iker, Brison and Javi

Substitutes: Lara, Bob, Nim, Jerry, Udanta, Sitroy, Tavora and Rabeeh

We could be seeing the great Cristiano Ronaldo take the field tonight against FC Goa. He was travelled with the Al Nassr squad and he could be marking his first ever appearance against an Indian club after missing the previous meeting in Fatorda.

"It’s an honour for us to play these kinds of games, not only for the players, but for all FC Goa fans and for Indian football as a whole. These are moments everyone will remember for a long time. But we’re not here just to admire the stadium or the occasion; we’re here to compete in the best possible way against a big team like Al Nassr.” - Manolo Marquez said.

“We’ve earned this opportunity through a lot of hard work, last season and in the early part of this one. From beating Al-Seeb in the preliminary round to reaching the Super Cup semifinals, we’ve met our early objectives. Now we’re in a good moment, the team is confident, and we want to enjoy ourselves on the pitch, but most importantly, we’re here to compete and try to win.” - Marquez concluded. 

Starting XI: Nader, Amri (C), Boushal, Marran, Khaibari, Al-Hassan, Ghareeb, Najjar (GK), Camara, Wesley and Salem

Substitutes: Nawaf, Sultan, Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Angelo, Coman, Bento, Inigo Martinez, Rakan, Aman and Joao Felix

FC Goa are winless in the AFC Champions League Two group stages, losing to Al-Zawraa (2-1), Istiklol (2-0) and tonight's opponents, who won a hard fought 2-1 back in Fatorda.

The players and the referees are on the field for the pre-match handshakes and the toss between Goa's Sandesh Jhingan and Al-Nassr's Abdulelah Al Amri. Both teams have huddled up for the final instructions and we are ready to go.

We are underway at Al-Awwal Park for this important Group D clash. The hosts (in yellow) will start from left to right and the visitors (in orange) start from right to left in this 1st half.

As expected, Al-Nassr have started the game strongly. They have been penetrating the Goan box with ease through their dominant midfield system and explosiveness in the flanks. FC Goa have been pushed to the back foot, and are making flashy and short-lived moves forward with the ball.

Boushal, Marran and Wesley are creating good combinations to operate from the left flank and are constantly finding small pockets of space to breakthrough the defence. Akash Sangwan, Kharbudon and Jhingan have done well to intercept every single time. Decent defensive display from Goa so far.

FC Goa are dealing well against the questions asked from the left flank with Wesley proving to be a major threat. He had a run himself with the ball into the box before releasing a shot that missed the frame by a fingertip.

FC Goa have no option but to defend deep and rely on counter attacks, where they haven't been that effective in the first 20 minutes or so. Al Hassan had a go himself towards the goal from outside of the box but smashes it over.

The hosts win a free kick but end up offside as they tried to sneak into the Goan defence after Wesley's shot met the wall. The entire backline of Sandesh Jhingan, Aakash Sangwan, Kharbudon, Pol Moreno and Boris Singh have been kept on their toes. Dejan Drazic is also coming down to defend and support his side.

Al Nassr lined-up another free kick in front of a 5-man Goan wall and Al Ghareeb opens the scoring after taking a lot of time to take the kick. Everything about that kick was right. He chose to go towards the left side and lofted over the wall to open the scoring. Hrithik Tiwari had no chance there.

Al Khaibari sent a powerful cross inside but Sandesh Jhingan intercepts with diving effort to clear the threat from the box.

Al Nassr have dictated the game so far, maintaining most of the possession with players like Al Ghareeb, Al Hassan and Wesley dominating the game so far.

3 minutes have been added on for the first 45 minutes at the Al Awwal Park with the hosts holding a goal's lead with 5 shots on target.

It ends 1-0 in the first-half as Al Nassr prevented FC Goa from having a sniff at the goal and constantly putting pressure through breakouts and positional sequences, especially from the left flank. Wesley, who opened the scoring with his free-kick in the 33rd minute, has been a major threat for the Goan defence, which is doing well during open play scenarios. The visitors have also done well to intercept threats from the centre.

Possession: FCG 25%-NSR 75%

Shots: FCG 0-5 NSR

Shots on target: FCG 0-1 NSR

Corners: FCG 0-2 NSR

It will be interesting to see what Manolo Marquez communicated to the players during the half-time talk. The FC Goa head coach knows his team could have conceded more in the first 45 minutes, something that Al Nassr will be looking to change in the second-half.

Al Ghareeb has been an equally important threat for Goa as Wesley as the former fires in a cross which almost met Camara.

And Al Ghareeb doubles Al Nassr's lead just like that. It was a darting run forward before receiving the ball and firing through the centre of the frame, beating Goa goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari, who came off the line but couldn't stop the outburst.

Al Hassan sees the first yellow crowd of the game for his challenges of Iker Guarrotxena and Manolo Marquez has brought on Ayush Chetri in place of Brison Fernandes, who scored the only goal against Al Nassr during the previous meeting. He goes off tonight after a tough outing. Aakash Sangwan has also been taken off for Jerry Lalrinzuala.

It went from bad to worse very quickly for FC Goa, who paid for another costly mistake from the right flank. Boushari made an outstanding run inside the box and brought Dejan Drazic on his knees with his flair before cutting it back for Mohammed Maran, who tapped in for the 3rd goal. Al Nasr are flying here.

The Goan midline is opening up very easily and Al Nassr ready to make a few substitutions. High profile names Sadio Mane and Joao Felix are coming on along with Sultan Al Ghannam.

Sadio Mane blasts it wide! Joao Felix has started to get involve in the game already and created a very good opening for the 4th goal. More trouble for Goa as veteran Croatian Marcelo Brozovic, one of the most efficient players of this generation, comes on.

Magnificent finish by Joao Felix as he shows his class with a sensational bicycle kick to finish the threatening cross by Sadio Mane, who comfortably rolled past Goan defenders and found the Portuguese forward.

5 minutes will be added on as injury time for what has been a 4-0 humiliation of FC Goa against Al Nassr in this group match. The visitors have been nowhere near the Saudi outfit, who returned in the second-half as an improved side.

A poor defensive and attacking display from FC Goa sees Al-Nassr win this match with ease by 4-0. The hosts were superior in every corner of the park and denied the visitors from even getting a sniff of the goal. The Gaurs remain winless in the AFC Champions League Two group stages.

FC Goa will take a potential trip to Baghdad, Iraq for an away fixture against Al-Zawraa before welcoming Tajik outfit Al-Istiklol on matchday 5 and 6. They will also await for their opponents for the AIFF Super Cup 2025 semi-finals. That's it for today's AFC Champions League Two coverage but football doesn't stop and you can catch updates from our live coverage of the UEFA Champions League.