Al Nassr vs Al Akhdoud Highlights, Saudi Pro League 2023-24: Brozovic scores brace as Al Nassr beats Al Akhdoud 3-2

The referee blows the whistle for full-time. Al Nassr held its nerve to hold back a rejuvenated Al Khdoud side in the second half. Al Nassr keeps Al Hilal’s title celebrations on pause now as it closes the gap to nine points. Al Hilal can win the title on Saturday when it takes on Al Hazm.

Al Nassr: Al Aliwa is replaced by Al Fatil

A total of six minutes to be played as added time.

Brozovic scores!! Al Nassr has found a way to take back its lead. Al Ghannam plays a cross into the box. Ronaldo jumps the highest and hits the crossbar with his header. The ball is not cleared away properly and Brozovic comes into the box and lashes the ball into the back of the net. He keeps the title race alive.

Ronaldo with the chance. He is through on goal but takes a heavy touch causing the opposition to come out and take the ball away from Ronaldo who goes down claiming a penalty.

Al Nassr: Ali Al Hassan is replaced by Al Nemer

Al Akhdoud: Collado is replaced by Florian Tanase

Freekick is taken short by Al Akhdoud. Collado takes a shot from outside the box and Ospina makes a save to his right. The ball falls to Godwin who skips past his defender to take a shot. Ospina repositions himself and makes a second save to keep his team in the tie.

Ronaldo goes into the book for having angry words with the referee.

Al Nassr: Ayman Ahmed is replaced by Mohammed Qassem.

Mane plays Al Alawi down the. Ronaldo is asking for a cross but the ball from Alawi is poor as it is cleared away by the Al Akhdoud defence.

Play is stopped for a tussle between Al Zubaidi and Ayman Ahmed. The latter receives a yellow card for aggravating the situation.

As things stand, Al Hilal is the Champion of the Saudi Pro League 2023-24.

Godwin scores!! Sloppy play from Al Nassr. The midfield gives the ball away and Al Zubaidi takes on Laporte on the right and dribbles past him to put the ball into the middle. The clearance is poor and Laporte’s attempt to dribble fails as Godwin wins the ball and smashes it into the goal.

Mane is brought down in the middle of the pitch by substitute Tawamba. Al Nassr takes the freekick quickly in search of a third goal.

Al Akhdoud seems full of energy now. A corner comes in and Ospina makes a comfortable catch to settle things down.

Al Nassr is under pressure now. Any mistake here could seal the title for Al Hilal who is 12 points ahead in the Saudi Pro League table.

Al Akhdoud scores!! Nobody saw this coming. Hassan Al Habib gets the ball at the edge of the box after a freekick. He takes a touch and shoots the ball into the side netting. VAR is having a long check to see if there was a foul in the build up. The check is complete and goal is given.

Mane chases a ball played over the top and whips a cross into the box. Ayman’s touch is poor and ball goes out for a goal kick.

Corner for Al Akhdoud. They players play it short and Collado puts in a good-looking ball into the box. The Al Nassr defence does well to head it away.

Ronaldo gets the ball from a beautiful through ball from Mane. His first shot is blocked and the rebound just goes wide of the left post.

Godwin tries to burst into the box from the left and play a ball into the middle. Laporte positions himself well to clear the ball away for a throw in.

Brozovic scoops the ball over the Al Akhdoud defence for Mane inside the box. Mane shows great technique to hit the ball on the volley. But the ball hits the crossbar and is cleared away.

Al Akhdoud kicks off the match shooting from left to right. Substitutions for both sides after the break.

Al Nassr: Alex Telles is replaced by Al Aliwa

The referee blows the whistle for half-time. A completely dominant performance from Ronaldo and Co. who has controlled the game since the first minute.

Three minutes of added time to be played.

Al Akhdoud has done well to not let in more goals after a quick start from Al Nassr. But it cannot find a way to score with only Saviour Godwin making the forward runs.

Mane dribbles through the Al Nassr defence and sets himself up for a shot. He goes down after his shirt is pulled from behind by Alyami who is already on a yellow. The ref checks and tells play on as it seemed that Mane went down too easily.

Al Akhdoud is enjoying a good bit of possession at the moment. But the Al Nassr defence is standing strong and clearing away any crosses that are coming in.

Ronaldo goes down just at the edge of the penalty box. He is claiming a penalty but the referee waves play on.

AL Akhdoud comes down the left side through Al Mansour who does well to put the ball in the box. Mane tracks back well to clear the ball away for a corner.

Mane plays a fantastic through ball into the box for Ayman Ahmed who misses the target with his first time shot.

The freekick in from Brozovic is poor and cleared away by the defenders.

Al Akhdoud’s captain Alyami goes into the book for a bad foul on the right side of the penalty box.

Al Akhdoud is showing signs of improvement. Godwin comes down the right and cuts into his left inside the penalty box. He takes a shot but Laporte stretches his leg to block the shot away for a corner.

Al Akhdoud finally has the ball and gets a corner. The corner in is cleared away by Alex Telles.

Ronaldo scores!! Ali Al Hassan gets the ball on the right and plays a ball into the penalty box. The clearance is poor from the defenders and Al Hassan is on the ball again. He plays it into the 6-yard box where the ball hits Ronaldo and goes into the goal. He cant seem to stop scoring making this his 33rd goal of the season.

Mane gets the ball in the middle of the pitch and sees Ronaldo making a run. He tries to play a ball over the top but the referee blows the whistle for offside.

Looks like it is going to be a long night for Al Akhdoud who cannot seem to get the ball away from the Al Nassr players.

Brozovic Scores!! Telles gests the ball on the left and tries to put in a cross into the middle. The pass is cleared away only as far as Al Hassan who lays it off to Brozovic. He takes a beautiful shot from outside the box to give his side an early lead.

A mistake from Al Nassr at the back. The Al Akhdoud forward tries to capitalise on it but Ospina is quick off his line to come and gather the ball.

Al Nassr starts the match with full control of the ball. No Luis Castro on the sidelines as he is resting after a surgery.

Al Nassr kicks off the match shooting from left to right.

The players are making their way into the Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium. Ronaldo leads Al Nassr while Alyami leads the home side Al Akhdoud.

Al Nassr and Al Akhdoud have faced each other only once before tonight’s clash. Al Nassr came out with a 3-0 win against Akhdoud, with Ronaldo scoring a brace. How many will he score tonight?

Cristiano Ronaldo-led Al Nassr is coming off a 6-0 thumping of Al Wehda on May 4. The 39-year-old Portuguese scored his 66th career hattrick against Wehda, taking his tally in the league to 32 goals, eight clear off Aleksander Mitrovic in second.

Al Nassr is currently second in the Saudi Pro League table with 74 points in 30 games, 12 points behind leader Al Hilal with four games left.

Newly promoted Al Akhdoud on the other hand is 15th in the table, level on points with 16th-placed Abha who is in the relegation zone due to goal difference.

Vitor (gk), Khamis, Kvirkvelia, Alyami, Al Mansour, Al Habib, Collado, Pedroza, Al Muwallad, Godwin, Al Jahif

Ospina (gk), Al Ghannam, Al Amri, Laporte, Telles, Al Khaibari, Brozovic, Al Hasan, Ayman Ahmed, Mane, Ronaldo

The Al Nassr vs Al Akhdoud Saudi Pro League 2023-24 match will kick off at 11:30 PM IST, on Thursday, May 9, at the Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium.

The match will be live telecast on the Sony Sports Network TV channels in India. It can also be live-streamed on the Sony LIV app and website.