Al Nassr continued its form from midweek by beating Al Riyadh 1-0 in the Saudi Pro League 2024-25 match at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday.
Sadio Mane scored late in the first half to give the visitor the win and take it to third in the table with 22 points, six away from leader Al Hilal and five points off Al Ittihad in second.
Al Nassr’s first real chance of the game came in the 13th minute when Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s shot from inside the box was blocked in front goal.
Minutes later, Cristiano Ronaldo forced a good save from Al Riyadh goalkeeper Milan Borjan, after dribbling in the box from the left and lashing his right foot at the ball, in an attempt to find the far corner.
Moments later, Borjan was called into action again as he pushed away Anderson Talisca’s left footed volley from outside the box.
Al Nassr came closest to taking the lead in the 36th minute when Talisca’s header from a corner was saved by Borjan, before making another save to deny Ronaldo from close range. The chance ended with Mohamed Simakan smashing the ball into the left post from the rebound.
AS IT HAPPENED | AL RIYADH VS AL NASSR HIGHLIGHTS, SAUDI PRO LEAGUE 2024-25
Five minutes later, Mane found the breakthrough after precisely meeting a pass Ghareeb’s pass from the right, inside the box. Mane took a first-time shot with the ball going in off the crossabr.
Al Riyadh came into the second half more intent to find a goal and almost would have got an equaliser in the 55th minute if it wasn’t for centre-back Ali Lajami’s quick thinking to nick the ball away from Mohammed Al-Aqel, who was running onto a cross played into the box.
Talisca had the chance to seal the game in the 88th minute when he had the entirety of the goal to finish but ended up blasting the ball into the stands, after receiving a pass from Mane.
Moments later, Ronaldo thought he had sneaked one into the net with a shot into the bottom corner, but Borjan produced another excellent save to keep his side in the tie.
