Al Nassr beats Al Ittihad by three goals at the Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on December 27 as Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane score two goals each against the Karim Benzema lead side.
With this win, Al Nassr closed its gap from the league leaders Al Hilal to seven points and Ronaldo stands as the leading scorer of the league with 19 goals to his name.
The match started off level with both sides exchanging possession and playing an attacking brand of football. Al Ittihad struck first in the 14th minute as Abderazzak Hamdallah, a former player for Al Nassr, opened the scoring with a near-post finish after beating two defenders inside the box.
Moments later, in the 19th minute, Al Nassr drew level again as Ronaldo scored from the spot since Nassr was awarded a penalty courtesy of a rough challenge by Benzema on Ali Lajami inside the box.
Later, in the 38th minute, Al Nassr took the lead, this time after a cross from Alex Telles was controlled beautifully by Anderson Talisca as the attacker took two touches and finished the ball in the net.
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Al Nassr was leading at half-time but Ittihad scored the leveller right after the play resumed as Hamdallah scored again, this time with a header in the 52nd minute.
The tide shifted back to Al Nassr after the sending off of Ittihad’s Fabinho after the defender struck Otavio’s face inside the box. Ronaldo converted from the penalty again in the 68th minute and took the lead for Al Nassr.
With a man-down, the home side struggled to control the tempo of the game and was dominated by the mighty Al Nassr side. Sadio Mane scored two easy tap-ins in the 75th and 82nd minute to seal the win for the away side.
Al Nassr plays Al Tawouun in its final game of 2023 of the Saudi Pro League on December 30.
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