Al Nassr’s already disappointing season ended on a worser note when Al Fateh defeated it 3-2 in their final Saudi Pro League 2024-25 match at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium on Monday.
The result meant that Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. finished third in the points table, missing out on a spot in next year’s AFC Champions League Elite and instead will play in the AFC Champions League 2.
Al Nassr had come into the game with slight hopes of getting an ACL Elite spot after, earlier in the day, the Saudi Arabia Football Federation announced that it had won an appeal to be handed three points. It lost 2-1 to Al Orubah in March but complained that goalkeeper Rafi Al-Ruwaili was ineligible to play in the game because he was not a full-time professional.
But in the end, even if Al Nassr had managed to beat Al Fateh, it would have stayed in third place as Al Hilal beat Al Qadisiyah 2-0 to cement the second spot, behind champion Al-Ittihad. The top two will play in the first tier of the continental competition next season, along with current ACL Elite champion Al-Ahly.
Al Fateh completes late comeback
The rumours of this game being his last with Al Nassr did not seem to affect his performance as Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 42nd minute. Ayman Yahya played a corner in from the left, which was flicked into the six-yard box by Mohammed Al-Fatil. Ronaldo was at the right place at the right time to easily tap in for his 25th goal in the league this season.
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However, the lead did not last long as, on the brink of the half-time whistle, Matias Vargas had an equally easy finish in front of goal after meeting a lovely cross from the left side of the box from Mohamed Amine Sbai.
Al Nassr retook its lead in the 75th minute when Ronaldo went on a run with the ball from the middle of the pitch to the opposition’s box before laying it off to Nawaf Boushal on the right side. The right-back precisely found Mane on the edge of the six-yard box, with the Senegalese forward promptly dispatching it into the back of the net.
Once again, the lead lasted only a while as Al Fateh’s Mourad Batna scored a stunning free kick. The Moroccan went for the goalkeeper’s side and slammed the ball with his left foot into the top left corner, leaving a stretching Bento no chance of making a save.
With nine minutes of added time announced, Al Fateh took the lead for the first time through a fast break. Vargas ran the length of Al Nassr’s half before finding Matheus Machdo Ferreira on the edge of the box.
His first attempt was parried onto the right post by Bento, however, the ball came right back to Ferreira, who made made no mistake this time of finding the bottom right corner to take all three points.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com