Aymeric Laporte scored the only goal as Al Nassr edged a 1-0 win against Al Khaleej in a Saudi Pro League match at the Prince Mohammad bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam yesterday.
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Al Nassr’s starting lineup after serving a one-match suspension against Al Fayha.
However, Sadio Mane missed out on the clash due to the accumulation of four yellow cards.
Despite being the weaker team on paper, Al Khaleej went all guns blazing in the first quarter of the match, with forward Mohamed Sherif finding the net in the seventh minute, but the offside flag ruled the goal out. Nine minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo also found the net after a slow start, but the offside flag ruled out the Portuguese’s strike.
The second half was frustrating for Al Nassr captain Ronaldo, with the Portuguese having difficulty timing his runs, resulting in the assistant referee flagging him offside constantly.
With both teams having their fair share of chances, the breakthrough came in the 68th minute, after Laporte went down near the Khaleej penalty area after a tackle from behind.
Marcelo Brozovic found centre-back Laporte with an inswinging cross from the resulting freekick, and the Frenchman headed the ball back across the goal, leaving Khaleej goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic with no chance to save the effort.
Ronaldo had a great chance to double Nassr’s lead in the 82nd minute after leading a counter-attack but hit the side-netting once he took a shot from inside the Khaleej box.
This win takes Al Nassr to 71 points from 28 games. It is nine points behind table-topper Al Hilal, which has a game in hand.
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