Cristiano reappears on holy ground: Al Nassr returns to winning ways with captain being decisive

Playing to meet the schedule? The question arose after Al Nassr returned to defeat at home to Al Ettifaq, in a match that left the team of Cristiano Ronaldo and Otávio out of the fight for the title and in a difficult position to remain on the podium (2-3). This defeat had the effect of leaving the Knights of Najd 11 points behind the outstanding Al Ittihad and now three points behind third place, occupied by Al Qadisiyah, who are worth the last direct spot for access to the Asian Champions League. With the complicated situation and the team from Riyadh heading for another season without trophies, the focus was now on the continental competition, so the Saudi Championship would take a back seat, at least in this home match against Al Wehda, who are last placed.

An afternoon to forget: Al Nassr twice led but Al-Fatil's disastrous display ruined everything

However, for the trip to Mecca, Stefano Pioli opted to keep the traditional team, with Ronaldo and Mané in attack, in a return to the 4-2-3-1. Otávio remains injured and missed the third game in a row. The game started an hour late, after the Al Nassr bus had problems getting to the stadium, and with a setback for the Italian coach, who saw Laporte injured in the first ten minutes and be replaced by Al-Najdi. The first half ended up being played at a slow pace and had few chances to score, with the first falling to Qasheesh, but Al-Owaishir quickly saved (16'). Just before half-time, Ronaldo tried a cross-shot to the far post, but the goalkeeper again blocked the shot (45').

???? || Starting lineup, @AlNassrFC vs #AlWehda pic.twitter.com/0wMwKyIBE4

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) February 25, 2025

Ângelo and Wesley came off the bench at half-time and, in the first dangerous move, Ângelo cleared a cross from the right into the box, Ronaldo burst in and opened the scoring with a header (48′), returning to the scoring charts after two blank games and reaching 925 goals in his career. In response, Khodari appeared dangerously close to the penalty area, but his shot went wide (56′). To close the game, Wesley delivered a dangerous cross, the captain missed his header by centimeters and the ball ended up going just wide of the post (89′). In the last move, an Al Wehda defender blocked a free kick from Cristiano with his arm and, with the penalty converted, Mané made it 0-2 (90+10′).

Crossing the ruler and square, for Cristiano Ronaldo to do what he likes most ???? #sporttvportugal #SAUDInaSPORTTV #LigaSaudita #AlNassr #CristianoRonaldo pic.twitter.com/kCzkPC1RoO

— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) February 25, 2025

With this victory, Al Nassr reached 47 points and once again tied Al Qadisiya in third place, with three more points than Al Ahli. Al Hilal remains in second place with 51 points, while Al Ittihad remains in the lead with 55 points, but with one game less. The team from Riyadh will return to action on Friday, at Al-Orobah (7 pm).