Al Nassr vs Al-Ettifaq highlights, NAS 3-1 ETT, Saudi Pro League: Ronaldo, Brozovic, Telles find the net for easy win

Al Nassr rides on goals by Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles to register a comfortable 3-1 win against Al Ettifaq. 

Hendry had the chance to reduce the deficit to one goal. A cross comes in from the right and all Hendry had to do was hit the target. But he skies his first-time effort. 

Al Nassr sub: IN- Al-Sulaiheem OUT- Brozovic

Ghareeb shoots at goal from the outside of the box but the ball takes a deflection and ends up with Victor. 

Five minutes added at the end of the second-half!

Al Nassr sub: IN- Al-Najei OUT- Otavio 

It is a good low cross by Wijnaldum and Al Kuwaykibi is there at the far-post to find the net with a first time finish. Something positive for Steven Gerrard and his men. 

Al Nassr subs: IN- Ghareeb, Al-Khaibari OUT- Talisca, Fofana

It is Talisca who takes the freekick. The Brazilian tries to curl it around the wall but there isn’t enough bend on the ball to rattle the net. Victor was a mere spectator as the ball flashed past the post. 

Al Ettifaq sub: IN- Al Otaibi OUT- Abdulrahamn Youssef

Tisserand brings down Talisca at the edge of the box and Al Nassr has a freekick in a goof position. This is Ronaldo territory. 

Ronaldo converts his penalty as he buries the ball in the bottom left-corner. Victor guessed right but could not get a hand to it. 

PENALTY - Mane brings down the ball with a great touch and makes his way inside the box. Abdulrahamn Yousef tries to stop Mane but ends up blocking the latter’s cross with his hand. 

Mane does well to beat his marker and find Ronaldo with a cutback from the left. The Portuguese shoots first-time but skies his effort. 

Ronaldo sees an opening and shoots at goal but the effort is straight at Victor, who does well to hold on to the ball. 

Al Ettifaq subs: IN- Al-Sharmani, Al-Kuwaykibi OUT- Al-Khateeb, Ali Hazazi

A poor clearance by Al Ettifaq allows Ronaldo to get the ball and head it to Brozovic inside the box. It wasn’t the easiest of finishes but Brozovic adjusts his body well to shoot at goal and find the net. It is his second goal for Al Nassr and his first in the Saudi Pro League. 

Al Khateeb has time and space to run at goal as he is played a good through ball. He makes his way inside the box but delays his shot, which forces him wider. In the end, he does shoot but hits the side-netting. 

Dembele makes a talismanic run from the left. He shrugs past two challenges, makes his way inside the box and shoots at goal from a tight angle. The shot is goal-bound but Telles makes a goal-line clearance. 

Al Nassr has started the second-half well with a lot of attacking intent but hasn’t been able to create any clear-cut chance till now. 

Al Nassr leads Al Ettifaq 1-0 as the second-half kicks-off at the King Saud University Stadium. 

Alex Telles’ goal keeps Al Nassr in a 1-0 lead against Al Ettifaq at half-time. 

Al Nassr booking: Laporte sees a yellow card for his ill-timed challenge on Dembele. 

Talisca gets another chance to double Al Nassr’s lead. He gets the ball in a good area and shoots at goal. But Victor does well to make the save and hold on to the ball. 

Telles swings in an excellent cross inside the box from a freekick. Ronaldo gets a header away but sees the ball hit the roof of the net. 

Seven minutes added at the end of the first half. 

That is a special strike from Alex Telles. Al Ettifaq tries to clear the ball but the clearing header is poor and the ball falls to Telles. The Brazilian shoots first time on the volley and rattles the net with the effort. Victor could not do anything as the ball dipped just at the right moment to beat him. 

Ronaldo turns provider, with his cross from the left finding Talisca, who does get a header away. But, the effort is not on target. 

Al Ettifaq booking: Moussa Dembele sees the first booking of the night as he gets a yellow card. 

Ronaldo goes for goal from an Al Nassr freekick, but the wall does its job by blocking the shot. 

Al-Ghanam’s pinpoint cross from the right finds Ronaldo, who guides the ball towards goal with his head. Victor stays alert to make the save. The header was straight at goal. It seems Ronaldo had slightly misjudged the timing of the header, which made it easier for the Al Ettifaq keeper. 

Mane flicks the ball to Ronaldo, who takes down the ball with his chest and then shoots at goal on the turn. It would have been a ‘Goal of the Season’ contender had that gone in but the Portuguese misses the target by quite a distance. 

Ronaldo crosses from the left in the hope of finding a teammate but the ball goes straight to Victor, who catches it without fuss. 

Most of the attacking has been initiated by Al Nassr as expected, but Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq has shown good discipline at the back till now. 

Wijnaldum crosses low from the left to fi nd Dembele. The latter tries to get a shot away but Laporte makes a fantastic tackle to deny the Ettifaq forward. The offside flag is eventually shown, so even if Dembele had scored, it would not have mattered.

Ronaldo does well to slow down the play, hold the ball and then, he tries to thread a pass to Fofana, who had made a run inside the box. However, Henderson stays alert to read the danger and make the clearance. 

A scoring opportunity on the other side as Al Ettifaq opens up the Al Nassr defence. Dembele, one-on-one with Nawaf, shoots at goal but the angle was against him, allowing the Al Nassr keeper to make the save. 

Otavio finds Mane in space and passes the ball to him. Mane makes way inside the Ettifaq box and shoots at goal under pressure. However, he fails to hit the target. 

Henderson tries to find Quaison with an aerial through ball but the former’s pass is too heavy, which sends the ball out of play. Quaison tried his best to chase the ball but failed to get a hold of the ball. 

Ronaldo goes directly for goal from an Al Nassr freekick. He catches his shot well, but Ettifaq keeper matched Ronaldo’s shot with a good save to clear the danger. 

Otavio uses the outside of his boot to find Ronaldo, who tries to take the ball in his stride. However, he fails to do so and loses possession. 

Al Ettifaq sub: IN- Hamed Al-Ghamdi OUT- Ahmed Al-Ghamdi

An unfortunate end of the night for Al-Ghamdi as the head injury forces him to get subbed off. 

A clash of heads between Al Nassr’s Alawjami and Ettifaq’s Al-Ghamdi in the very first minute of the match and it doesn’t look good. Medical staff of both teams are on the pitch for treatment. 

The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Ettifaq is underway at the King Saud University Stadium. 

Al Nassr will play Al Ettifaq to the King Saud University Stadium in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.

AL Nassr returned to winning ways in the league in its last match after a 3-0 loss to Al Hilal earlier this month. Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Otavio, and Talisca helped it register a 4-1 win over local rivals Al Riyadh.

The host continued its positive form in the King’s Cup as well, afte clinching a dominating 5-2 win over Al Shabab in the quarterfinals. 

Al Ettifaq is unbeaten in its last seven games in all competitions and fell to a 2-0 loss to Al Taawoun last week. Following its poor run of form, it dropped to eighth place in the league table. It has 24 points to its name, trailing the hosts, which is in second place.