It was a top-of-the-table clash in the Saudi Pro League, where Al Nassr came out on top, beating defending champion Al Ittihad 2-0 on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane found the net to guide Al Nassr to three points as it stays top of the table with 12 points from four matches. Al Ittihad is second with nine points from the same number of outings.
For Al Ittihad, it was the end of a 19-game unbeaten streak at home in the Saudi Pro League.
Given the lovely tifo by the home fans at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and the loud cheers, one would think that it would fuel Al Ittihad into starting the match on the frontfoot, but right kick-off whistle, Al Nassr dominated the proceedings.
Mane and Kingsley Coman on the flanks proved to be a menace for the Al Ittihad backline, with Al Nassr taking just nine minutes to stamp its superiority in the clash.
Coman put on the afterburners to get past his marker on the right flank and floated a cross inside the box. Mane, who had already started to make a run at the back-post, met the cross with a perfect first-touch to volley the ball inside the net.
AS IT HAPPENED: ITT VS NAS HIGHLIGHTS
In the 14th minute, Ronaldo got his first scoring opportunity as he met Coman’s cross with a header at the near-post, but failed to keep his effort on target.
But the Portuguese is rarely kept quiet, and in the 35th minute, he used his head to double Al Nassr’s lead. This time, Mane turned provider as he sent in a measured cross in the middle, which Ronaldo met with a perfect connection to hit the net from close distance.
Al Ittihad had chances to come back in the first-half with Karim Benzema finding Steven Bergwijn on a couple of occasions, but the latter was too slow in reacting and ended up botching all the scoring chances he got.
In the second-half, Al Nassr started to slow down the tempo of the match, but never sat back fully as it continued with its quest to find a third.
Al Nassr’s only forward, who will be frustrated after the match, will be Joao Felix, as he could not find the net despite getting a couple of brilliant chances. His best chance came in the 39th minute when Mane found him at the back post. Choosing to hit the ball first-time, Felix could not control the pace of his shot and ended up blasting the ball over the crossbar from close distance.
However, it was Ronaldo who missed the easiest chance of the match. In the 58th minute, Felix threaded a pass for Nawaf Boushal. Wanting to clear the ball to safety, Ittihad keeper Predrag Rajkovic rushed off his line but lost the race to Boushal. With the goal gaping, Boushal found Ronaldo with the cutback, and all the Portuguese needed to do was hit the target.
Sometimes the easiest chances are the hardest to finish, and that turned out to be the case for Ronaldo, who, despite taking a touch to control the ball, failed to hit the ball into the empty net as he skied his effort.
However, the miss did not hurt Al Nassr in the grand scheme of things as it held on to its two-goal lead to bag three points.
Published on Sep 27, 2025
