New Delhi, March 15 (HS): In a match played on Saturday at Al Awwal Park in Riyadh, Al Nassr overcame Al Khaleej with a score of 3-1 in the Saudi Pro League 2024-25. The three star forwards of Al Nassr – Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, and newly signed Jhon Duran scored goals in this match.

In just the fourth minute of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo gave his team the lead. Al Khaleej’s goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe saved the initial shot taken close by Duran, but Ronaldo skillfully placed the rebound into the empty net. This was his 19th league goal of the season, which put him two goals ahead of Al Shabab’s Abderrazak Hamdallah (17 goals) in the Golden Boot race.

Al Khaleej equalized just five minutes later when Miziyaan Maolida scored from the edge of the box. However, the goal was disallowed after a VAR check, as they had committed a foul on Mane.

Al Nassr doubled their lead in the 24th minute when Ronaldo provided a brilliant through ball to Salem Al-Najdi. Najdi crossed the ball into the box, which Mane accurately placed into the goalpost.

Four minutes before the end of the first half, Jhon Duran controlled the ball with his left foot from outside the box and scored a spectacular goal into the right corner.

In the second half, Al Nassr suffered a major setback when Nawaf Al-Boushal received a red card after being shown two yellow cards within ten minutes.

Taking advantage of having a player advantage, Al Khaleej scored a goal in the 70th minute. Jackson Muleka’s shot deflected off Ali Lajami and crossed the goal line.

Despite this, Al Nassr’s players defended brilliantly and secured the victory in front of their home crowd. With this win, Al Nassr reduced the points gap with the top-placed Al Ittihad to 10 points.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar