Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
2024/2025 Saudi Professional League
0-1
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41' GOAL! Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al Nassr FC (Sadio Mané)
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Match Report
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
| صافـرة النهايـة!
— نادي النصر السعودي (@AlNassrFC) November 8, 2024
النصر 1 - 0 الرياض
ساديو ماني
#النصر_الرياض | #AlNassrAlRiyadh pic.twitter.com/EtOPuCQfPY
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
Line-ups
Al-Riyadh XI: Borjan, Yoann Barbet, Tozé, Bernard Mensah, Faïz Selemani, Lucas Kal, Mohamed Konaté, Ibrahim Bayesh, Hussain Al-Nuweqi, Abdul Ilah Al-Khaibri, Marzouq Tambakti
Subs: Yehya Al Shehri, Rayan Al-Bloushi, Mohammed Saleh, Swailem Al-Menhali, Nasser Al-Bishi, Bader Al-Mutairi, Mohammed Al-Oqil, Nawaf Al-Hawsawi, Abdulrahman Al-Shammari
Al Nassr FC XI: Ronaldo, Brozovic, Mane, Otávio, Talisca, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Ali Lajami, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Mohamed Simakan, Bento, Nawaf Al-Boushal
Subs: Mohammed Al-Fatil, Mukhtar Ali, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Raghed Al-Najjar, Ali Al-Hassan, Ayman Yahya, Ângelo, Salem Al Najdi, Saad Haqawi