Ronaldo rekindles Al Nassr's championship hopes

Saudi Arabia Cristiano Ronaldo's opening penalty gave Al Nassr a 2-0 win at Al Ta'ee, keeping them three points clear of leaders Al Ittihad.

Ronaldo (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring in Al Nassr's win over Al Ta'ee on May 16. Photo: Al Nassr

Despite playing away, Al Nassr dominated with 55% ball possession, 17 shots with five on target, while Al Taee missed the target with all nine shots.

Ronaldo played brilliantly, touching the ball 39 times, passing accurately 84% and shooting three times. The Portuguese striker's first mark came in the 23rd minute with a close-range header that was saved by goalkeeper Victor Braga.

Five minutes later, Ronaldo fired a left-footed shot from outside the box, but was still pushed out of bounds by Braga. Early in the second half, he continued to shoot with his left foot from outside the box, this time the ball went wide.

The difference came in the 48th minute, when Al Sulaiheem clashed with a home player and fell in the penalty area. After consulting VAR, the referee awarded Al Nassr a penalty. On the 11m mark, Ronaldo shot hard to the right corner. Braga guessed the direction correctly but could not touch the ball.

This was Ronaldo's 13th goal in 14 appearances in the Saudi League. With three games remaining, the former Man Utd and Real Madrid striker will have a hard time catching up with Abderrazak Hamdallah - the Al Ittihad striker who is leading the scorer list with 20 goals.

In the 80th minute, Anderson Talisca intercepted a pass from defender Al Taee and finished close to the goal to seal a 2-0 victory. In the same match, Al Ittihad was held to a 2-2 draw by Al Hilal with a goal scored in the fourth minute of injury time of the second half.

Key developments of the match Al Ta'ee 0-2 Al Nassr.

With these results, Al Nassr has rekindled its hopes of winning the championship when it now has 60 points, three points behind Al Ittihad with three rounds left in the season. In the remaining matches, Ronaldo and his teammates will face Al Shabab on May 23, Al Ettifaq on May 27 and Al Fateh on May 30.

Starting lineup

Al-Ta'ee : Braga, Fai, Majrashi, Semedo, Quassem, Sayoud, Dener, Ali, Harzan, Musona, Mbnza

Al-Nassr : Rossi, Sultan, Gonzalez, Lajami, Konan, Gustavo, Alkhaibari, Alsulaihem, Ghareeb, Talisca, Ronaldo

Hong Duy

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