Al-Nassr 1-0 Al-Taawoun: Al Dossary own goal lifts hosts up to second

Al-Nassr moved to within five points of Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal after Mohammed Al Dossary's 45th-minute own goal sealed a 1-0 win over Al-Taawoun on Monday. 

Having endured a run of four league games without a win, Al-Nassr have now won their last three consecutive top-flight games, pushing them up to second place in the table.

Al-Nassr came close to opening the scoring twice in the opening exchanges, with Cristiano Ronaldo volleying against the crossbar after Mohamed Simakan's inch-perfect pass.

The pair combined again two minutes later as Ronaldo's teasing free-kick was headed into the bottom-right corner by Simakan, but the goal was ruled out for an offside by VAR. 

Jorge Jesus' side continued to be frustrated as Al-Taawoun goalkeeper Mailson produced a string of fine stops to deny respective efforts at goal from Ronaldo and Sadio Mane. 

However, Al-Nassr's persistence paid off on the stroke of half-time when Mane's cross into the penalty area was glanced into his own net by the retreating Al Dossary. 

The hosts continued to dominate after the break as Mane, fresh from his Africa Cup of Nations victory with Senegal, was denied a goal on his return after his shot struck the post. 

Al-Nassr were unable to add to the scoreline, with Ronaldo producing a fine near-post stop from Mailson as they comfortably held on for their 13th league win of the season. 

Data Debrief: Al-Nassr keep scoring run going

After narrow victories over Al-Shabab and Damac, Al-Nassr produced another wasteful display in front of goal here, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of just 1.2 from their 20 shots compared to Al-Taawoun's 0.05 from their three attempts. 

Nevertheless, they managed to force the opening that got them over the line, and in doing so completed a league double over Al-Taawoun for the sixth time, and their first since the 2021-22 campaign. 

In addition, Al-Nassr have now scored in each of their last 70 league matches, scoring 184 goals. They are only the second team in Saudi Pro League history to score in 70+ consecutive games, after Al-Hilal (record run of 86).