Al Nassr’s front three all scored as it beat Al Kholood 3-1 in the Saudi Pro League 2024-25 match at the Al Awwal Park in Riyadh on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the fourth minute while Sadio Mane and new-signing Jhon Duran added to the tally before halftime to cut the gap to 10 with leader Al Ittihad.
The home side took the early lead when Ronaldo neatly dispatched the ball into an empty net after Al Kholood’s goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe saved Duran’s initial shot from close range. This was Ronaldo’s 19th league goal of the season, which is two more than Al Shabab’s Abderrazak Hamdallah in second.
The visitor thought that it had got one back five minutes later when Myziane Maolida put the ball in the back of the net from the edge of the box. But the goal was disallowed after a lengthy VAR check, which confirmed that the Al Kholood forward had fouled Mane before taking a shot.
AS IT HAPPENED | AL NASSR VS AL KHOLOOD HIGHLIGHTS
Al Nassr doubled its lead after Ronaldo played a lovely through ball to Salem Al-Najdi to catch Al Kholood off guard. The full-back curled the ball into the box where Mane directed it into the goal.
With four minutes to go in the first half, Duran shifted the ball to his left outside the box and slotted it into the bottom right corner to give the home side a healthy lead ahead of the break.
Al Nassr suffered a blow relatively early in the second half after Nawaf Boushal was sent off after receiving two yellow cards in a span of 10 minutes.
Al Kholood used the one-man advantage to get itself back in the game with Jackson Muleka’s 70th-minute shot taking a significant deflection off Ali Lajami before crossing the goal line.
However, the Al Nassr players held on in front of their home fans to take all three points.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com