Goal

Al Nassr: Laporte (68′)

Al Nassr’s away trip to Al Khaleej Stadium witnessed the return of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after receiving a two-match suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct in the defeat against Al Hilal in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup. However, Sadio Mane – the player who shined when Ronaldo was absent in the recent match against Al-Fayha – could not play due to accumulating enough penalty cards.

With Ronaldo’s presence in the starting lineup, it’s easy to understand why the away team’s passing lanes all point towards the Portuguese superstar’s position. Meanwhile, the home team Al Khaleej did not shy away from the strength of the second-place team when they organized a double attack and created a very open match. In just the first 15 minutes, both teams managed to put the ball into their opponent’s net. Even Ronaldo once hit the crossbar and once put the ball into the home team’s goal, but all were not counted due to offside.

Ronaldo had an unglamorous day, but Laporte was able to shine

Attacking a lot, but the final finishing situations were all inaccurate, causing the two teams to leave the field with a goalless draw. Ronaldo’s disappointed face was focused on when he could only bring danger to the goal. Ibrahim Sehic could not convert into a goal.

In the second half, Al Nassr still controlled the game on the field. Ronaldo was still the name mentioned at the beginning of the second half, when he sent the ball wide of the goal after a close-range header in an empty position. In the 61st minute, Ronaldo continued to be unlucky when his shot found the right post.

However, after many efforts to attack, the away team was able to find a goal to break the deadlock. 7 minutes after Ronaldo’s kick hit the post, Al Nassr scored when Marcelo Brozovic accurately took a free kick so midfielder Aymeric Laporte jumped high and headed the ball past goalkeeper Sehic to score the only goal of the match. With this victory, Al Nassr got 71 points, continued to rank 2nd in the rankings and shortened the score gap with top team Al Hilal to 9 points but played 1 more match.

Starting lineup

Al Kheleej: Sehic, Rebocho, Lopez, Al Khabrani, Al Hamsal, Rodrigeus, Masoud, Hamzi, Al Terais, Sherif, Narey
Al Nassr: Ospina, Al Fatil, Laporte, Al Amri, Al Ghannam, Al Khaibari, Brozovic, Telles, Otavio, Ghareeb, Ronaldo

Match parameters

Charts