RIYADH: The Saudi Pro League’s 25-day, international-break hiatus ended on Friday, as Al-Nassr hosted Diriyah at Al-Awwal Park hoping to erase the memory of their last game before the break, a disappointing 1-1 away draw against Al-Khaleej.
A larger storyline had emerged days earlier, however, as Cristiano Ronaldo’s widely publicized fallout with Al-Nassr’s former manager, now head coach of the Portuguese national team, Jorge Jesus, dominated the headlines.
Al-Nassr head coach Ange Postecoglou said Ronaldo’s spirits were high, despite his abrupt departure from the national team camp in the middle of Portugal’s Nations League fixtures, amid complaints of broken promises from Jesus about his role in the squad.
And Postecoglou certainly seemed to be correct, as it took the captain only 23 minutes to open the scoring with the 980th goal of his career, setting his team on the road to a comfortable victory.
The goal came when Kingsley Coman broke through the Diriyah defense in transition before cutting inside to fire a shot at goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah, whose attempt to parry fell for the onrushing Ronaldo to produce a composed finish.
His Portuguese compatriot Joao Felix contributed to Al-Nassr’s second, in the 36th minute, when his outswinging corner found Samu Costa, whose downward header bounced off the turf and into the net.
Felix spurned a golden chance to extend the lead with a goal of his own before half time when a Ronaldo through ball set him clear on goal, but the chance was squandered. It was a reminder, perhaps, that memories of the game against Al-Khaleej remained fresh; in the closing minutes of that match, with the scores level, Felix had driven toward goal on the counter with a great chance to grab all three points, only for delayed decision-making to let the chance slip by. Luckily for him, his miss against Diriyah did not carry the same consequences.
If Al-Nassr looked refreshed after the near-month-long break, Bruno Lage’s Diriyah were much more cautious in their approach. The statistics tell an interesting story, however: Diriyah matched, if not bettered, Al-Nassr in terms of forays into the opposition half and final third.
Their fluid 5-4-1 formation, built around the interchanging of positions between Darwin Nunez, Adil Boulbina, Enzo Millot and Oscar Rodriguez, created space in behind Al-Nassr’s defense on several occasions, but they managed only one shot on target in the first half.
The second half followed a familiar pattern for Al-Nassr when they hold a comfortable lead, as they dropped into a 4-5-1 with less of the high-pressing tendencies that characterize their fast starts. Given Postecoglou’s well-documented frustration with the club’s congested schedule in the run-up to the international break, this came as little surprise.
Diriyah, meanwhile, still could not find their rhythm in attack; even as they enjoyed the lion’s share of shots in the second half, none of them truly threatened goalkeeper Bento, and Al-Nassr comfortably navigated the remainder of the game.
Coman wrapped up the victory when he added a third goal in the 77th minute when he was released on the counter by Sadio Mane, drove through and slotted the ball into the bottom corner.
The victory moved Al-Nassr, temporarily at least, to the top of the league on 19 points alongside Al-Qadsiah. All eyes now, though, will be on the weekend’s headline fixture between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, either of whom could leapfrog both of them with a victory.
Earlier, visiting Al-Qadsiah hammered Al-Kholood 5-0 in a statement result befitting their billing of dark-horse title contenders this season. Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring in the fourth minute, then goals from Christopher Bonsu Baah and Musab Al-Juwayr made it 3-0 by the break. Mateo Retegui extended the lead in the 67th minute, before Julian Quinones completed the rout from the spot in the 86th.
Al-Ahli delivered a similarly dominant display as they defeated Al-Fateh 4-0 in Al-Hasa. It was a difficult debut for the home side’s new head coach, Jamal Sellami, as Francisco Trincao opened the scoring in the 31st minute and added a second in the 50th. Ivan Toney scored his 11th goal of the season in the 60th, before Ziyad Al-Johani wrapped it up in the 89th.
On Saturday, Al-Hazem host Neom at 4:50 p.m. and Al-Ettifaq welcome Al-Khaleej for an Eastern Province derby at 5:55 p.m., before the Saudi Clasico between Al-Hilal and visiting Al-Ittihad kicks off at 9 p.m.
