FOOTBALL – Cristiano Ronaldo struck from the spot to end Al Nassr’s miserable winless run as they scraped past Roberto Firmino’s Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League last night.
There was no shortage of star power as several familiar names in Europe were battling for the three points on either side including former Liverpool star Firmino, Frank Kessie, and Riyadh Mahrez for Al Ahli to match up with a star-studded Al Nassr side led by their Portuguese talisman. However, the big names kept holding their fire as both teams adopted a caution-first approach in the first half.
It was almost a snoozefest until the final 10 minutes and Ronaldo had little to do in front of goal after being starved of service by a gritty Al Ahli defence. The first gilt-edged chance fell for the hosts but the crossbar denied Merih Demiral after he jumped the highest to get his head to a corner floated in by Mahrez. A few minutes later, Ronaldo jumped for joy after he scored from an acute angle but VAR intervened and deemed him to be offside by a whisker during the build-up.
The second half was much livelier after the half-time team talks with their respective managers. More spaces started opening up in midfield and Firmino scored for his team after Allan Saint-Maximin set him up. However, VAR struck down the goal to keep the scoreline unchanged.
Both teams further upped the ante in the final 30 minutes but a reckless challenege from Roger Ibanez inside the box on Sami Al Najei proved fatal. Ronaldo stepped up from the spot, sent Edouard Mendy the wrong way with a stuttered run-up and placed his effort at the corner to finally break the deadlock.
Firmino and company gave their all in the final quarter to salvage at least a point from the match but could not find a way through the defence of a stubborn Al Nassr, who ended their four-match winless run.
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