Cristiano Ronaldo urges referee to reverse penalty decision he earned in AFC Champions League.

RIYADH – Cristiano Ronaldo successfully convinced the referee to overturn a penalty awarded to him during Al Nassr's AFC Champions League match against Iran's Persepolis, resulting in a 0-0 draw.

The 38-year-old, formerly with Manchester United and Real Madrid, seemed to have been fouled by Soroush Rafiei inside the box, prompting Chinese referee Ma Ning to point to the spot. However, Ronaldo quickly got to his feet, approached the referee, and gestured that there was no foul.

After consulting the VAR (video assistant referee), the referee went to the pitch-side monitor and reversed his decision during the Group E clash in Riyadh.

Despite the draw, Al Nassr secured their spot in the knockout stage of the competition. Ronaldo expressed his satisfaction on social media, saying, "Happy that we qualified first in our group and to have achieved 20 games unbeaten. Great teamwork."

Ronaldo did not specifically mention the penalty incident in his post.

Al Nassr, the Saudi Arabian side, had won all four Group E matches leading up to the encounter and needed only a point at Al Awwal Park to advance to the last 16. They achieved this despite playing the majority of the match with 10 men after Ali Lajami received a straight red card in the 17th minute.

Ronaldo's substitution with 13 minutes remaining, following a collision with Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, somewhat dampened the celebrations. Manager Luis Castro stated, "The medical staff will study Cristiano’s injury. The medical staff will do its job of recovering and making him ready for the next match."

Al Nassr is set to face arch-rivals Al Hilal on December 1 in a top-of-the-table clash in the Saudi Pro League.

In other Group E match, Al Duhail secured their first win this campaign with a 2-0 victory at home against Tajikistan side Istiklol.

In Group C, Saudi Arabian champions Al Ittihad rebounded from a defeat in round four with a 2-1 win at Uzbekistan’s AGMK FC. The victory keeps two-time winners Al Ittihad at the top of the standings heading into their next week's tie at home with second-placed Sepahan.

The group stage, following a home-and-away format, will continue until mid-December, with the top pool winners and the six best second-placed teams advancing to the knockout rounds starting in February. The final will take place across two legs in May.