FILE PHOTO: Al Nassr's captain and forward Cristiano Ronaldo in action. | Photo Credit: AFP
Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s coverage of the Saudi Pro League fixture between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and Al Raed, happening at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh. This is Mayank bringing you all the updates.
And the referee blows off the full-time whistle to end Al Raed’s misery. Ronaldo’s Al Nassr beats Al Raed 4-0 to keep themselves alive in the title race along with Al Ittihad.
GOALLLLLLLLL! Al-Sulaiheem scores. What a goal! Another substitute, who registers his name in the scoresheet. Al-Sulaiheem beats two defenders from the central channel and passes to Masharipov who back-passes to him and Sulaiheem takes a lofted shot to the left corner of the box to make it 4-0 in favour of home side Nassr!
NAS 4-0 RAE
Last change for Al Nassr. IN: Abdullah Madu | OUT: A. Al. Khaibari
Seven minutes have been added after the 90 minutes of regulation time.
GOALLLLLLL! Substitute Mohammad Maran registers his name in the scoresheet. Masharipov assisted him from the left channel and Maran just did enough to beat the keeper and triple the lead for the home team.
NAS 3-0 RAE
Al Raed with the ball and Sunub tries to make a run from the right flank but fails yet again.
Goalscorer Ghareeb ends his shift today as coach makes two more changes for Al Nassr.
Double change for Al Raed as coach consumes all five potential substitution options.
Al Nassr is dictating the pace of the game with ball possession. Al Raed finding difficulties to even win the ball as the game is as good as done for them.
Al Raed sub: IN: Raed Al Ghamdi | OUT: Karim El. Berkaoui
Chance: Captain misses finding the net this time. Alawjami passes the ball further to the front line and Ronaldo receives it and passes short to Sultan Al Ghanam who first tries to enter from the left corner but later passes to Ronaldo who misses the line completely.
A halt in the play as Mitrija is down and seems to be in some discomfort after he collided with A. Alawjami.
The first set of substitutions for the home side. IN: Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem and Jaloliddin Masharipov | OUT: A. Yahya and A. Alhassan
Chance: Ghareeb goes on a solo run from the right flank and he beats the lone defender and back passes to Yahya who fails to convert this time. A three-pronged attack was later joined by Ronaldo but till then Raed got enough time to reinforce numbers on defence.
Sings of desperation clearly visible in Al Raed players as they are making silly mistakes to give a decisive advantage to the home team.
Sunbu Yahya makes an impact straight away and puts goalkeeper Nawaf under pressure from the right channel. Nawaf saves the ball.
Al Raed sub: IN: Yahya Sunbu | OUT: M Fouzair
Alhassan is on the run and tries to hit the ball but hits the defender’s hand a loud appeal followed for handball but the referee says play on as the hands were close to the body.
GOALLLLLLLL! Ghareeb doubles the lead for Al Nassr. The home side was making constant pressure on Al Raed. Gustavo crosses from the right channel to Ronaldo and he headed down to the central channel, Yahya receives the ball in time and passes it further to Ghareeb who takes his time but makes sure to find the back of the net with a lovely shot.
NAS 2-0 RAE
Ghareeb slipped and fails to get on the ball provided by captain Ronaldo in the final third, a throw-in for Raed.
Al Nassr midfielders are using the space given by Al Raed in the central channel to keep the ball possession with them with ease.
Konan fouls within a few seconds of the second-half kick-off whistle. A brilliant delivery for Al Raed players but the header goes above the post.
IN: Mubarak Abdulrahman Al Rajeh | OUT: A. Al Fahad
And we are back after the half-time break.
A video referral confirms Ronaldo being in an offside position on the previous run and with this, the first half comes to an end with the home side leading with Ronaldo’s goal in the fourth minute.
Chance: Yahya with a through ball to Ronaldo who beat two defenders with this run and receives the ball but Keeper closed in and Ronaldo refrained from taking a shot and goes wide to back pass it to Ghareeb but he could not keep the shot on target.
Five minutes of extra time have been added after the first 45 minutes in the first half.
Rael is on the counter and Dokovic gets the ball and takes a direct shot at the target but Nawaf’s clean save denies any chance.
Gustavo deceives the backline with his quick run from the left channel and crosses to change the flank, a chance for Al Nassr but the flag is already up for offside.
An end-to-end football is being played as we get near to the half time. Al Raed is trying to press the home team but the lack of creativity in the final third is bothering them.
A halt in the play at the moment. And here comes the confirmation as Karim El Berkaoui has been penalised for the shouldering and gets a yellow card booking from the referee.
El Berkaoui seems to have injured himself while trying to shoulder Sultan Al Ghanam.
Gonzalez comes in between an Al Raed player a tough challenge on him makes sure the visitors win a free-kick. Mitrija takes the free kick from about 60 yards from the box and delivers a brilliant curling ball above the defensive wall inside the box but goalkeeper Nawaf Alaqidi saves with a timely jump.
Chance: Nassr in the attack once again, A. Alhassan receives the ball inside the box from the right corner and tries to cross the ball in search to find the back of the net but finds to keep the ball on target.
Al Raed has pulled up their socks as they look much more involved and competitive in the last few minutes. A controlled phase of play as the ball is pretty much confined in the midfield mostly.
A loud and vocal crowd is cheering and supporting the home team - Ronaldo’s Al Nassr at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh.
Yellow Card: A. Al. Khaibari fouls Mitrita and gets a yellow booking from the referee as a result.
Chance: Not a clear chance but Ronaldo certainly made sure to put him in a dangerous position from the left flank but both Ghareeb and Alhassan fails to stay on the line of the ball as Raed wins the ball back.
Al Nassr tries to maximize the possession as they go for a counter but Dossary wins the ball in the right time to stop the dangerous run.
Al Raed is going for an offensive run for the first time in the match but a compact backline takes the ball possession back.
Another corner-kick for Al Nassr. Ghareeb delivers a curling ball but Ronaldo mistimes his jump and the ball goes up after deflecting from his back.
Chance: Al Hassan with a lovely run and a couple of through balls in the final line make sure he gets the ball on time but he misses keeping the shot on target and was anyways an offside run.
A rare chance created by Raed in the central mid-field but an over-ambitious cross fails to find Fouzair as Nassr wins a goal kick.
Al Nassr wins a corner with constant high press, Ghareeb takes a short corner kick but this time a timely intervention from Al Raed defence deny a second goal for Nassr.
Al Nassr is able to hold the ball possession and dictate the pace of the game early on.
GOALLLLLLLL!! Ronaldoooooooo! He finds the net inside four minutes, and what a goal for Al Nassr to start the game. Ronaldo was himself the playmaker this time as he runs down from the central channel to pass the ball further to Yahya, who could not finish the shot, and a deflected ball was received by Ghanam, outside the box, and a cross to Ronaldo, who was perfectly placed in a position to head in and find the back of the net.
NAS 1-0 RAE
Yahya concedes a foul early on in the game and a free kick to Al Raed on its half.
Gustavo starting with the ball for Al Nassr and we are underway at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh.
Talisca will not be available for today’s game as he has picked four yellow cards in the last four league games.
Coach: Marius Sumudica Romania
Coach: Dinko Jelicic
The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Raed will be played on April 28 (April 29 in India).
The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Raed will be played at the KSU Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday night.
The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Raed will begin at 12:00 AM IST.
The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Raed will be streamed live on the Sonyliv and MyJio app.
The Saudi Pro League match between Al Nassr and Al Raed will be telecasted on the Sony Sports network in India.