Al Nassr 5-2 Al Najma: Report, result, goals as Ronaldo scores twice on return from injury

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on his return from injury as Al-Nassr moved six points clear at the Saudi Pro League summit by coming from behind to beat bottom side Al-Najma at the King Saud University Stadium.

Video Assistant Referee checks were involved in both of Ronaldo’s goals, starting when the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was afforded the chance to fire in from the penalty spot in the 56th minute after Abdullah Al-Hawsawi was adjudged to have handled his free-kick.

Nawaf Boushal was initially ruled offside when the right-back surged clear, entered the box and cut a pass back for Ronaldo to tee himself up and smash a strike past goalkeeper Victor Braga with 17 minutes remaining, but the 41-year-old’s protests turned to glee when technology deemed the goal valid.

Rakan Al-Tulayhi gave the visitors, who look doomed to relegation, a shock 44th-minute lead with a clinical finish after Al-Najma kept the danger alive following a curtailed counter-attack.

Abdullah Al-Hamdan slotted Al-Nassr level during first-half added time after Abdulelah Al-Amri headed down Marcelo Brozovic’s cross and there was still time before the interval for Sadio Mane to score, charging inside the penalty area on the left and finding the far corner of the net.

Felippe Cardoso gave Al-Najma the ideal start to the second half with a composed finish from a swift move, but Ronaldo’s double and an added-time tap-in by Mane increased Al-Nassr’s lead over second-placed Al-Hilal, who host fifth-placed Al-Taawoun on Saturday (19:00 BST).

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Al Nassr vs Al Najma: How Ronaldo returned and Mane shone

Ronaldo is now on 22 goals in 23 league games this season but the Al-Nassr captain raised his eyes to the sky when Victor Braga denied him in a one-on-one before the opener and cut an irritated figure as Al-Najma contained the title hopefuls early on.

Victor Braga’s long ball set up Al-Najma to equalise in style and the underdogs were unhappy with the decision against Al-Hawsawi, the ball appearing to hit the right-back’s elbow.

“It’s such a confident penalty,” former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson told the Saudi Pro League YouTube channel.

“We don’t expect anything else but it’s so well struck: hard, low, going away from the goalkeeper. It’s a penalty technique that’s been so successful over the years.

“His sixth penalty of the season; never in doubt when he steps up from 12 yards.”

The two-time Saudi Pro League top scorer missed three Al-Nassr matches and Portugal’s international fixtures in March with a hamstring issue – but if the all-time top scorer in international football was a little rusty during the first half, Mane proved sharp again.

“Once he gets in the 18-yard box, he opens his body up and aims for that far post,” Robinson observed of the Senegal talisman’s first goal.

“There was a big deflection off [Nasser] Al-Haleel on the way through, but [home coach] Jorge Jesus and Al-Nassr won’t care.

“It looked like [Jorge Jesus] was in for one of the most difficult team talks he’d have to give. They battled and found a way.”

Ronaldo had been replaced and applauded from the bench by the time substitute Salem Al-Najdi raced inside the box on the left and squared a pass for Mane’s second.

Analysis: ‘Good signs’ for Saudi strugglers Al-Najma

Al-Najma won automatic promotion from the First Division last season but started this match 14 points from safety, having appointed Serbian-British coach Nestor El Maestro in February in an attempt to escape relegation.

Seeking an end to a five-match losing run, Al-Najma wisely and effectively kept the match tight and their well-taken goals were not entirely undeserved, if only for their stubbornness, solidity and impressive response to falling behind for the first time.

“That was such a good counter-attack to hit Al-Nassr’s high line,” Robinson said after Cardoso’s cool touch and drive to level.

“Victor Braga can take so much credit: he spotted an opportunity. Within three passes, they had the ball in the back of the Al-Nassr net.

“The way they’ve performed tonight… [there are] good signs for the manager in terms of these players and what he can utilise next season to try to get back into this league.

“If they’d played like this for the rest of the season, they might not have lost 20 of 26 [previous league matches].”

Al Nassr team vs Al Najma

Goalkeepers Raghed Al-Najjar and Mubarak Al-Buainain (both knee) were injured for Al-Nassr, as were defender Inigo Martinez and winger Kingsley Coman with hamstring problems.

Midfielder Sami Al-Najei (knee) was also sidelined. Forward Joao Felix, who has 15 goals and 11 assists in the league this season, and wideman Ayman Yahya were suspended.

Al-Nassr starting XI: Bento Matheus, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Mohamed Simakan, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Saad Al-Nasser, Marcelo Brozovic, Angelo Gabriel, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Sadio Mane, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Cristiano Ronaldo

Al-Nassr substitutes: Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Nader Al-Sharari, Nawaf Boushal, Salem Al-Najdi, Rakan Al-Ghamdi, Hayder Abdulkareem, Ali Al-Hassan, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Mohammed Marran

Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al-Nassr against Al-Ahli

Al Najma line up vs Al Nassr

Left-back Mohammed Al-Kunaydiri will miss the rest of Al-Najma’s season with a knee injury.

Al-Najma starting XI: Victor Braga, Vitor Vargas, Samir Caetano, Nasser Al-Haleel, Majed Dawran, Rakan Al-Tulayhi, Abdullah Hawsawi, David Tijanic, Felippe Cardoso, Nabil Emad, Mohammed Al-Aqal

Al-Najma substitutes: Walid Al-Enezi, Guga Rodrigues, Mohammed Mansour, Abdulaziz Al-Harabi, Khalid Al-Soubaiy, Mohammed Al-Fatil, Sultan Al-Essa, Majed Sharahi, Hisham Al-Dubais

Al Nassr vs Al Najma stats

  • This was the second-ever meeting between the teams. Al-Nassr recorded the largest win of their season when they visited Al-Najma on February 25, winning 5-0 through goals by Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Coman, Martinez and Ali Al-Hassan
  • Al-Nassr had kept a clean sheet in 11 of their previous 12 games in all competitions and had not conceded in any of their previous four home league matches, spanning more than seven hours of football across those games
  • Ronaldo’s most recent appearance for Al-Nassr, in a 3-1 win at Al-Fayha, was the first time in five league appearances that the 41-year-old had not scored, contributing five goals and one assist across his previous four such games
  • Mane scored in a third straight outing for Al-Nassr
  • Al-Najma have spent the entire season at the foot of the table but were inspired to their first win of the campaign by El Maestro on February 14, beating Al-Kholood 2-1 at home through goals by Felippe and former Marseille winger Bilal Boutobba
  • Across five consecutive defeats between then and visiting Al-Nassr, they had failed to score more than once in a game and lost by an aggregate of 19-3
  • This was the second occasion on which Al-Najma had scored more than once in their last 13 matches, failing to net on five occasions during that sequence
  • Only second-bottom Al-Akhdoud (22) and Damac (24) have scored fewer goals in this season’s top flight than Al-Najma (25)
  • Their total of 66 goals conceded is the worst in the division
  • Two of Al-Najma’s eight points have come away from home

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com

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