Riyadh, May 8 (H.S.): Cristiano Ronaldo’s team Al Nassr faced a 2-3 defeat against Al Ittihad in a crucial match of the Saudi Pro League. In this match played at Al-Awwal Park, Al Nassr initially took a two-goal lead, but the team lost that advantage in the second half. Ronaldo was unable to score in this match.

Al Nassr started strong, with Sadio Mane scoring a goal in the third minute to give the team a 1-0 lead. This opportunity came from a mistake by Ittihad defender AbdulElah Al-Amari, whose back pass reached Mane. After controlling the ball, Mane deceived goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic and put the ball into the net.

Before the end of the first half, Al Nassr doubled their lead. This time, Mane assisted Ayman Yahya, who found the net without wasting any time. After the first half, it looked like Al Nasr would easily win the match.

Al Ittihad adopted an aggressive approach at the start of the second half and signaled their comeback within five minutes. Ronaldo’s former teammate Karim Benzema moved the ball forward with a header, and just three minutes later, N’Golo Kante scored a brilliant goal on a cutback pass, leveling the score at 2-2.

The decisive goal came from Houssem Aouar, whose first shot was saved by Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento, but the rebound hit an Ittihad player and went into the net.

With this loss, Al Nassr has slipped to fourth place in the points table and is now 11 points behind top-placed Al Ittihad, which has further solidified its position at the top with this victory.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar