Al Nassr FC 4-4 Al Hazem: Hosts draw without Ronaldo despite Talisca's hat-trick

Al Nassr drop points without suspended Cristiano Ronaldo despite Talisca scoring a hat-trick against Al-Hazem.

Match Report

Al Nassr dropped two precious points in the Saudi Pro League after being held to a remarkable 4-4 draw by Al-Hazm.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed Thursday's home game through suspension after being hit with a one-match ban for making obscene gestures towards Al-Shabab fans last week.

Talisca shone as Al Nassr's lead frontman in Ronaldo's absence by scoring a hat-trick.

But defensively, Al Nassr were simply not good enough. The home side led four times and still failed to win against the team that started the day bottom of the SPL.

After goals from Ahmad Al Mhemaid, Toze and Faiz Selemani had canceled out Talisca's trio of strike, Al Nassr went ahead again when Sadio Mane converted a penalty kick in the 94th minute.

But Paulo Ricardo scored Al-Hazm's fourth equalizer five minutes later.

Thursday's result left Al Nassr six points behind unbeaten Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who have played one game fewer.

At the other end of the table, Al-Hazm - who lost 5-1 at home to Al Nassr back in September - rose one place to 17th thanks to Thursday's point.

Talisca has now scored 16 goals in 17 Saudi Pro League matches this season - having netted 20 times in each of the previous two campaigns.

However, Ronaldo is still Al Nassr's leading scorer this term with 22 goals in 20 SPL appearances.

The 39-year-old former Real Madrid forward is likely to be back in action on Monday when Al Nassr take on Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the first leg of their AFC Champions League quarter-final.

Line-ups

Al Nassr FC XI: Waleed Abdullah, Alex Telles, Brozovic, Laporte, Mane, Otávio, Talisca, Sami Al-Najei, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Nawaf Al-Boushal

Subs: Ospina, Mohammed Al-Fatil, Mohammed Qasem, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim, Ali Lajami, Ali Al-Hassan, Ayman Yahya, Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa, Meshari Al Nemer

Al Hazem XI: Tozé, Júnior Moreno, Paulo Ricardo, Faïz Selemani, Bruno Viana, Aymen Dahmen, Yazeed Al-Bakr, Mohamed Badamosi, Majed Qasheesh, Ahmad Al-Mhemaid, Azzam Al-Salman

Subs: Ibrahim Zaied, Mohammed Abusabaan, Omar Al-Ruwaili, Nawaf Al-Habashi, Abdurahman Al-Dakheel, Farhan Al-Aazmi, Ahmed Al-Jaweed, Basil Yousef Al-Sayyali, Sultan Al Essa