Al-Nassr 'have a second chance' at Pro League title, says Jorge Jesus

  /  autty

Jorge Jesus calmed emotions at Al-Nassr as he believes they "have a second chance" to win the Saudi Pro League title.

Al-Nassr were just moments away from winning their first league title since Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival in 2023, but they fell to a late 1-1 draw against second-place Al-Hilal on Tuesday.

Mohamed Simakan gave Al-Nassr the lead, but goalkeeper Bento scored an own goal in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time to keep Al-Hilal alive in the title race.

Al-Nassr also looked the better of the two sides, producing 1.36 xG from nine shots to Al-Hilal's 0.91 from seven attempts.

Cristiano Ronaldo was responsible for three of those shots (a match-high), while only Kingsley Coman (0.54) accumulated more xG than the former Real Madrid forward (0.35).

Ahead of their final league game, Al-Nassr are five points ahead of Al-Hilal, who have a game in hand on the leaders.

Al-Nassr will become champions if they beat Damac on the final day, or if Al-Hilal drop points against either Neom or Al-Fayha.

Jorge Jesus is confident his side will get over the line, despite the late twist against Al-Hilal.

"It's tough to have lost the possibility to celebrate winning the title on the last play of the game but there is still one more game, at our stadium and we can be champions," Jorge Jesus said.

"We have a second chance. We still have a game to be happy. If the fans are strong, for sure in the last game we will be happy and we will celebrate the title."

And on the late own goal, the Al-Nassr boss added:  "It happened following a collision between Bento and [Inigo] Martínez, with no involvement from the Al-Hilal players.

"These sorts of situations happen all the time in football."

Related: Al Hilal Al Nassr FC Ronaldo
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