Dubai, April 22 (QNA) - Al Nassr Club of Saudi Arabia defeated Al Ahli SC 5-1 in the AFC Champions League Two 2025/26 semi-final at Zabeel Stadium on Wednesday.

The win means Jorge Jesus' side will face Japan's Gamba Osaka in the final on May 16 and the Saudi Pro League side will be confident of their chances after a spectacular campaign so far, the AFC website reported.

The match began in blistering pace with Al Ahli's Driss Fettouhi sending a shot sailing just over the bar while at the other end, a threaded Joao Felix pass sent Sadio Mane through but Marwan Sherif pulled off a great stop.

At the other end, Al Ahli were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute after Inigo Martinez dragged Erik Exposito down in the box. Julian Draxler stepped up to take the spot-kick but Bento Krepski went the right way to deny the German before recovering to make a second stop from the rebound.

The Qatari side were not to be denied in the 10th minute when Fettouhi pinged a diagonal pass to Sekou Yansane on the right flank, with the French forward driving into the box before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner.

Al Nassr were not behind for long, levelling the score less than two minutes later, Mane sending Angelo through, who cut the ball back for Coman to sidefoot home.

Coman thought he had given Al Nassr the lead in the 17th minute after he curled the ball past Sherif, only for the effort to be disallowed following a VAR review for Marcelo Brozovic's foul on Ibrahima Diallo earlier in the move.

The Saudi Pro League side, however, got the lead their play deserved in the 23rd minute after Mane picked out Angelo's run into the box, with the Brazilian planting the ball home with his first touch.

Draxler had a chance to restore parity when he traded passes with Exposito in the 45th minute and rounded Bento but was denied by a superb sliding block from Abdulelah Al Amri before Fettouhi hit the crossbar with his corner delivery.

The misses came back to haunt Al Ahli in the seventh minute of added time after a Fettouhi mistake gifted Coman a tap in as Al Nassr went into the break comfortably ahead. 

Cristiano Ronaldo blazed an effort over the bar with Mane's low shot bouncing off the base of Al Ahli's post as Al Nassr threatened to increase their advantage early in the second half.

Al Nassr's dominance reaped rewards in the 63rd minute when Coman produced deftly controlled Angelo's through ball and surged past two defenders before picking out the bottom far corner.

Abdullah Al Hamddan came off the bench in the 78th minute and swept home Angelo's cutback two minutes later to seal a five-star Al Nassr performance as they stayed on track to be the first side from Saudi Arabia to win the competition. (QNA)