Al-Nassr suffered their second consecutive loss in the league as Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane's side failed to make an impact against Al-Taawoun.
Match Report
The two stars were unable to help their new side Al-Nassr edge a victory over Al-Taawoun, a team with only seven players valued over £1million.
Al Nassr, who have been among many other Saudi Pro League clubs to spend eye-watering sums on players this year, faced an early setback in the Saudi Pro League season.
They were stunned by a 2-0 home loss to Al Taawoun on Friday. Even with star players Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Anderson Talisca, and Marcelo Brozovic, they struggled to look threatening to their opposition.
The visitors took the lead with a header from Cameroonian forward Leandre Tawamba from a corner kick in the 20th minute.
Al Taawoun's solid defense with five players at the back and a reliable goalkeeper frustrated both Ronaldo and the Al Nassr team throughout the match.
A late goal from substitute Ahmed Bahusayn secured the 2-0 win for Al Taawoun during added time.
This comes after Al-Nassr suffered a 2-1 defeat to Steven Gerrard's side Al-Ettifaq on the opening day of the season.
Starting off the season with a loss to Gerrard's side came after many of their top players being rested after winning the Arab Club Champions Cup just 48 hours earlier.
However, even with all those star players were back on the field, including the £175m-a-year Ronaldo, they still fell short against Al Taawoun.
The opposing team had a perfect strategy – solid defence and quick counter-attacking through their fast Brazilian winger Mateus.
Despite outshooting Al Taawoun 24-8, Al Nassr struggled to create a smooth attacking rhythm. They managed only five shots on target, while Al Taawoun had six on target.
There were moments of near-misses for Al Nassr: Anderson Talisca missed a couple of headers in the penalty area, Sadio Mane had a goal disallowed, there was a crucial clearance off the goal line, Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post with a shot from an offside position, and Marcelo Brozovic shot directly at the goalkeeper. It was a frustrating night for the home team.
In the previous season, Al Nassr finished in second place, falling five points short of winning the Saudi title in 2022/23 to rivals Al-Ittihad.
Having kicked off this season with two consecutive losses, their current situation is concerning, as they could find themselves six points behind the leaders by the end of Matchday 2.
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
8' ClOSE! Ronaldo’s shot saved by Goalkeeper!
20' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 0-1 Al Taawoun (Léandre Tawamba)
34' Mateus misses a good chance!
40' Ronaldo’s long range free kick inches wide!
46' CLOSE! Fofana’s shot wide out
47' CHANCE! Ronaldo header over the bar
53' Yellow Card! Talisca booked
67' What a save from Mailson!
80' Brozovic’s long shot inches wide!
89' OFFSIDE! Ronaldo hit the post
96' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 0-2 Al Taawoun (Ahmed Bahusayn)
Line-ups
Al Nassr FC XI: Ronaldo, Waleed Abdullah, Brozovic, Mane, S.Fofana, Talisca, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Ghislain Konan, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Ali Lajami, Abdulelah Al-Amri
Subs: Mohammed Al-Fatil, Mohammed Qasem, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Ali Al-Hassan, Khalid Al-Ghannam, Nawaf Al-Boushal, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Meshari Al Nemer
Al Taawoun XI: Girotto, Mateus, Léandre Tawamba, Medrán, Aschraf El Mahdioui, Flávio, Mailson, Waleed Al-Ahmed, Hasan Kadesh, Abdulmalik Al-Oyayari, Muath Faquihi
Subs: Abdulmalik Al-Shammari, Awn Al-Saluli, Raghed Najjar, Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, Saad Yaslam, Saad Al-Nasser, Ahmed Bahusayn, Sattam Al Roqi, Fahad Al Abdulrazzaq
Shmonny
596
Mane played well than the self claim G.O.A.T
richkid842
580
After he won the World Cup, which was ordered from jumia by Saudi Arabia FA, he thought he had finished football [Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
richkid842
402
Hahaha 😆 Ronaldo fans right now 🤣 😂
Shmonny
373
Pain went straight to Portugal and Senegal 😂
“GreaterMeRules”
307
The previous loss they claimed Ronaldo wasn’t there,the savior etc…now he’s back with a loss and couple free kicks in the sky😂. We waiting for another excuse after his World Cup break 💀😂
GOATLM1030
199
Dreams_cant_be_buy
147
The guys here told me to watch a Saudi PL game to see how different the defensive tactics of Saudi PL are from MLS. I did, the 2nd goal showed me. GK was basically outside the pen area and one defender was actually inside the goal. Other guys had no idea what they were supposed to do.
Discimyz
23
To be honest as a real football fans, for the past 3 seasons now, apart from scoring tapin goals and heading goals is there anything Ronaldo can offer to football just like Messi do, he has no creativity or good pattern of play, except goals, that’s why if he doesn’t score in a match you see how woeful he is in the game
Well said! And this is the difference between the two. When Messi doesn’t score, you’ll surely be able to tell that he played, but in Ronaldo’s case, he becomes deadweight on the team. I ask again: If you’re in a class, and you’re good in morethan a course/subject, and someone else is only good in one—and the one they are good in, you do better than them in that one sometimes, who would you pick as the best student in that class? Messi is better at dribbling, passing, playmaking, you name it. And Ronaldo is only good in goal scoring, and sometimes, Messi even out scores him. So with a non-biased mind, who is better? Clearly, Messi is!!!
Betapidkin
12
That’s football for you, you win some, you lose some
VawulenceProMax
10
To be honest as a real football fans, for the past 3 seasons now, apart from scoring tapin goals and heading goals is there anything Ronaldo can offer to football just like Messi do, he has no creativity or good pattern of play, except goals, that’s why if he doesn’t score in a match you see how woeful he is in the game
U said the fact and even camel league fans know this But they won't accept because of jealousy and pain🤡🤌 If it was Ronaldo dat won the World Cup by now we the noise would have still been everywhere, the fans would have trolled MESSI everyday😁🤡🤌
AbdulZaks008
9
Mane played well than the self claim G.O.A.T
[image]
Yes mane is better footballer than Ronaldo, so it's not something
Fofanah10
8
What has arsenal offered in the last three years
What was United offering in the last 7 yrs?🤔🤣