Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick completed a two-goal comeback from Al Nassr who picked up all three points at home in a 2-1 win over Damac…but only just.
2023/2024 Saudi Professional League
2-1
Match Events
0' The match is about to start!
4' OFFSIDE! Ronaldo’s goal disallowed
10' Yellow Card! Abdullah Alkhaibari booked
19' CLOSE! Alkhaibari’s shot stopped by goalkeeper
47' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 0-1 Damac (G.K Nkoudou)
48' Disallowed! Ronaldo scores but the goal is offside
50' CLOSE! Ronaldo’s shot wide out
52' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 1-1 Damac (Talisca)
56' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 2-1 Damac (Ronaldo)
Match Report
Trailing at half-time, Anderson Talisca’s 53rd-minute free-kick brought Al Nassr level, and Ronaldo’s own blistering free-kick three minutes later secured the three points. The win for the hosts saw them keep pace with those at the top, sitting third with a four-point deficit between them and leaders Al Hilal.
Yet while they did manage to bag the win, the hosts will consider themselves extremely lucky to do so, with their performance begging plenty of questions about their title aspirations. Damac blew no fewer than three glorious opportunities to score, which, had they taken even just one, would have been a devastating blow to Al Nassr’s hopes of eventually topping the table.
Ronaldo and Talisca provided the win, but Al Nassr escaped with the result rather than emphatically secured it. They need far more structure and solidity at the back if they are to close the gap at the top of the Saudi Pro League standings.
The Sporting News followed the Al Nassr vs. Damac match live, providing score updates, commentary, and highlights as they happened.
Line-ups
Al Nassr FC XI: Ronaldo, Alex Telles, Laporte, Mane, S.Fofana, Otávio, Talisca, Abdullah Alkhaibari, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Raghed Al-Najjar, Nawaf Al-Boushal
Subs: Waleed Abdullah, Abdullah Madu, Mohammed Qasem, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem, Sami Al-Najei, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Ali Al-Hassan, Ayman Yahya, Mohammed Maran
Damac XI: Domagoj Antolic, Tarek Hamed, Nicolae Stanciu, Farouk Chafaï, G.K Nkoudou, Assan Ceesay, Ahmad Al-Zain, Abdelkader Bedrane, Moustapha Zeghba, Dhari Sayyar Al-Anazi, Sanousi Al-Hawsawi
Subs: Fahad Al-Juhani, Abdulaziz Majrashi, Sultan Faqihi, Ramzi Solan, Abdulaziz Al-Shahrani, Mohammed Al-Mahasneh, Noor Al-Rashidi, Abdulaziz Makeen, Ahmed Harisi