Super Eagles and Former Leicester City forward Ahmed Musa’s debut goal gave his new Saudi Arabian side a 2-1 win over Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi.
There was a famous face on the bench for the Knights of Najd, with Nigeria forward joining from Leicester City earlier this month for an initial fee of £14.8m, which is believed could rise to £25m.
And the Super Eagles star proved to be a super sub as he climbed off the bench and scored a superb winning goal, with the Saudi Professional League side now in the driving seat to make the last 16 when the sides reconvene in Riyadh at the end of September.
The Nigerian, who scored twice for the Super Eagles in Russia, came off the bench to make his debut and had an almost instantaneous impact.
The 25-year-old forward immediately began to chip away at what could turn out to be a huge fee half an hour after coming on for another Premier League old boy, ex-Watford winger Nordin Amrabat.
He lit up an otherwise draining second half 15 minutes from time. There was still plenty of work to do when the ball was played up to him 30 yards out.
But he obliterated Jazira centre-back Musallem Fayez for pace and stroked home past Khaseif calmly with his wrong foot to give the Saudi side a first-leg advantage.
