A Cristiano Ronaldo screamer, a Joao Felix hat-trick, along with a Ronaldo penalty miss — it is safe to say the Al Nassr faithful at Al-Awwal Park Stadium witnessed a roller-coaster ride of emotions as they saw their team thrash Al Fateh 5-1 on Sunday.
The win solidified Al Nassr’s position at the top of the table, with Jorge Jesus’ men extending their lead to four points. They maintain their perfect start to the season with 15 points in five outings.
It was a game of two halves, with the first one turning out to be a frustrating one for Al Nassr. Despite Felix’s excellent finish from an outside-of-the-box curler, which gave Al Nassr a lead in the 13th minute, the team failed to capitalise on scoring opportunities and extend its lead.
A penalty denied to Ronaldo late in the first-half only added to the frustration as the referee blew his whistle for half-time.
In the second-half, Al Nassr looked to have been bitten by the age-old bug of complacency, leaving wide gaps in its defence for Al Fateh to exploit. In the 54th minute, the visitor finally broke Al Nassr’s high line to grab the equaliser.
AS IT HAPPENED: NAS VS FAT HIGHLIGHTS
Karl Toko Ekambi timed his run to perfection to stay onside and chase an over-the-top ball. Making his way inside the box, he went for the shot, but Nawaf Alaqidi, who had rushed off his line, made himself big to make the save. However, he could not prevent the rebound as the ball reached Sofiane Bendebka, who made no mistake in slotting the ball home to level the proceedings.
Five minutes later, Al Nassr got a golden opportunity to regain the lead after a VAR check confirmed a handball offence inside the box for Al Fateh.
The ever-familiar figure of Ronaldo stood over the ball and, after his trademark run-up, chose the keeper’s left. Amin Bukhari guessed right and got a solid touch to palm the ball away to safety.
A missed penalty might take a mental toll on most players, but Ronaldo showed why he is known as a mentality monster. Two minutes after having his penalty saved, he rattled the net with a rocket of a strike to give his team the lead again.
After receiving the ball from Mane on the left side of Al Fateh’s penalty area, Ronaldo cut in with a couple of stepovers and then let the ball fly, aiming for the far corner. The connection was excellent, and the ball rattled the top-right corner of the net, leaving an outstretched Bukhari with absolutely no chance of getting a touch.
That goal seemed to open the floodgates for Jorge Jesus’ men, and the onslaught started.
In the 68th minute, Ronaldo and Felix combined, and the latter made a surging run in the final third, displaying brilliant footwork to ride a couple of challenges and make his way inside the box. He still had a lot to do as the angle was not ideal for a shot, but with exemplary technique, Felix opened the face of his boot to place the ball towards the far corner.
Despite a two-goal lead, Al Nassr did not take its foot off the pedal and looked for more goals. It was rewarded for its efforts in the 75th minute when Kingsley Coman got to the end of Angelo Gabriel’s cutback from the left and rifled the ball in the bottom-right corner for his team’s fourth of the match.
Felix, undoubtedly Al Nassr’s best player on the night, capped off his brilliant performance with a hat-trick in the 79th minute. Mane’s shot was cleared off the line, only for the ball to find Felix, who had the easiest of finishes.
Al Nassr will travel to India next for its AFC Champions League Two match against FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on October 22.
Published on Oct 19, 2025
