NAS 3-2 SHB, Saudi Pro League HIGHLIGHTS: Al Nassr edges past Al Shabab to keep title hopes alive; Ronaldo scores winner

And the referee blows the final whistle as Al Nassr snatched an unlikely win courtesy of goals from Talisca, Ghareeb and skipper Ronaldo to keep their title hopes alive.

Six added minutes

OUT: Harbi IN: Sibyani

Gustavo on the left, puts in a searching through ball towards Ronaldo but the Al Nassr skipper is caught offiside. The men in yellow thought they had an outside chance for a penalty

Just under ten minutes remaining, Al Nassr has been on its toes, with short one on one passes, retaining the posession as much as possible. Meanwhile, it’s still 1-0 in favour of Al Ittihad against Al batin and a win here would mean Al Nassr will still be in the title hunt

OUT: Ghareeb IN: Alamri

OUT: Carlos IN: Bahbri

Konan chases a long ball on the left, he gets to it in the final third, puts in a searching cross as Ronaldo and Talisca were inside the box but the ball is headed away

Corner for Al Shabab as Gonzalez clears one away. Banega takes the kick but nothing comes off it as it is cleared easily

An attack from Al Shabab after a long time, Guanca and Carlos linked up to get inside the box but Al Ghanam comes up with another important interception to clear it away

OUT: Alhassan IN: Najei

Krychowiak gets an inch perfect lofted ball inside the box, but a timely challenge from Ghareeb contains him from doing anything

AND THAT’S THREE FOR AL NASSR AND IT’S THE SKIPPER WHO DOES IT. Ronaldo gets the ball inside the box, cuts to the left of a defender and slots it to the right of a diving Kim and the crowd goes crazy as they continue to sing Ronaldo’s signature celebration “SIU”

Carlos gets yellow for a rash sliding tackle on Al Ghanam

Al Ghanam intercepts a pass inside the opposite half and dribbles wonderfully towards the box, but three defenders surround him as he trips and falls inside the box

Al Nassr almost took the lead. Talisca gets the ball in close quarters and tried to tap it in but Kim’s reflexes keeps the ball away

GHAREEB RESTORES PARITY FOR AL NASSR! He’s not only equalised here but has kept the title hopes alive!!

Corner for Al Shabab. Skipper Banega sends a low cross in, but it is cleared away easily

Krychowiak’s error almost concedes a goal as he gave the ball away right before the box, Talisca runs in to shoot but slips as the ball flies past the post. Ronaldo was running alongside him

Ronaldo start things off for Al Nassr. If his side lose this match, Al Ittihad will be crowned the champion of Saudi Pro League!

In an all important match in the title tace, Al Nassr is trailing by two goals to one as Guanca netted a brace. Things could’ve been much more problematic if not for that Talisca goal. Ronaldo’s side needs two more to secure the win as well as keep its title hopes alive, can it pull it off?

Four added minutes

Santi Mina and Alawjami are booked for involving in the fight as well

An Al Nassr assistant is shown the red as he got involved in a fight with one of Al Shabab players

AL NASSR PULLS ONE BACK AS TALISCA SCORES! Al Hassan got the ball inside the box on the left, he quickly puts in a short pass that finds Talisca, who slots in in coolly

GOOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!! GUANCA GETS HIS BRACE! THAT WENT INTO THE POST LIKE A BULLET! Alawjami lost posession right at the edge of the box, Mina’s shot takes a deflection but goes directly to Guanca who lashes out a powerful low kept shot that found the back of the net

Al Nassr’s Gonzalez and Gustavo are shown the card for arguing with the referee following Tambakti’s tackle

Tambakti with yet another brilliant stop. Ghareeb initiated an attack on the right, tried to cross it but Tambakti came in with a timely block

OFF THE CROSSBAR! Konan floats a wonerful chip inside the box, Ronaldo hangs on to it but it crashes on to the post!

Ronaldo is down and in visible pain as he collides with the scorer Guanca. The medical team rushes to attend him and he is back up in no time

Al Shabab continues to press. Al Harbi starts a counter attack on the left lane, but Alhassan intercepts and clears it

GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLL! AL SHABAB TAKES THE LEAD. Cristian Guenca slotted it to the lower left corner, Rossi did well to get a touch but the ball blazed past him. Huge setback for the men in yellow as this could prove detrimental for their title hunt

Corner for Al Shabab, a curler from Benega almost finds Mina inside the box, he shoots but it’s deflected. Al Shabab players protest for a handball. REFEREE OPTS FOR VAR REFERRAL AND ITS GIVEN! THE BALL BRUSHED GUSTAVO’S ARM AS HE JUMPED TO CLEAR THE CORNER KICK!

Talisca’s superb run towards the box proves tricky for the defense but they converge onto him, he quickly sends the ball to Ronaldo, who chipped it inside the box towards Talisca but the goalkeeper proactively punches it away

Gustavo feeds it to Ghareeb who in turn finds Ronaldo inside the box, on the left side but a brilliant man marking from Santos keeps Ronaldo at bay

Tambakti puts in a timely interception as Talisca ran dangerously towards the box

Some worrisome news for Al Nassr coming from Jeddah as league leader Al Ittihad has taken the lead in the 9th minute against Al Batin courtesy of a goal from Romarinho. As things stand, if Al Nassr play out a draw here, the point difference between it and Al Ittihad will increase to four

Apart from attacks, Al Nassr players’ positioning has been on point so far, they’ve tried to maximise from their respective positions without much deviation

An enthusiastic Ronaldo gets caught offside as Gustavo, from their half, tried an ambitious through ball directed towards the Portuguese

Ronaldo initiates an attack as he dribbles swiftly past three defenders, gets into the final third on the left lane, tries to find Talisca in the middle but the ball is cleared away

Al Shabab players taking it slow as they put in short passes but there is no progression, everything happens in their own half

Free kick for Al Nassr as Al Ghanam gets fouled deep inside his own half. Rossi, the goalkeeper takes the kick

Al Nassr starts things off, it will play left to right. A quick attack from the men in yellow but Tambakti kicks it out for a throw

Al Nassr: W-D-W-L-D

Al Shabab: L-L-W-L-W

It’s a packed KSU stadium and it is filled with yellow jerseys as they await for one of the most important matches this season. A win for Al Nassr would be a huge boost in its title pursuit as league leader Al Ittihad is just three points away from Ronaldo’s side. In other news, Al Ittihad is up against an almost-relegated Al Batin at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium.

Al Nassr (4-3-3): Rossi — Al Ghanam, Al Oujami, Gonzalez, Konan — Alkhaibari, Gustavo, Alsulaihem — Talisca, Ronaldo, Ghareeb.

Al Shabab (4-2-3-1): Seung-gyu — Al Sagour, Santos, Al Tambakti, Al Harbi — Krychowiak, Al Monassar — Guanca, Banega, Junior — Mina.

When is the Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Shabab?

The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Shabab will kick-off at 12:00am IST at the KSU Stadium in RIyadh.

Where can I watch the Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Shabab?

The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Shabab can be live streamed on the Sony LIV app/website. The match will also be telecast live across the Sony Sports network.

As the title race heats up, second-placed Al-Nassr will host Al Shabab, which sits third, at the KSU stadium in Riyadh on Wednesday.

The Cristiano Ronaldo-led side comes into the tie on the back of a comanding 2-0 win against Al Ta’ee last week while Al Shabab will look to bounce back after two back-to-back losses.

Al Nassr and table topper Al Ittihad are separated by just three points and a win tonight will further tighten the deficit. As both the teams have similar goal difference, Al Nassr will not only look for just a victory but a massive one too. But Al Ittihad is up against an almost-relegated Al Batin and the probability of a loss for the league leader looks bleak.