FOOTBALL – Al Nassr defeated Al Taawoun 1-0 yesterday thanks to Mohammed Al Dossary’s 45th-minute own goal, lifting the hosts to second in the Saudi Pro League.
Al Nassr sought to make home advantage count early on, and found a way past Mailson in the fourth minute.
Ronaldo lofted an enticing free-kick to the back post for Mohamed Simakan to head past the Brazilian, but the goal was chalked out for offside.
The Al Taawoun shotstopper was on hand to deny Inigo Martinez, while Ronaldo was also unable to get the better of Mailson in the opening exchanges.
The Portuguese striker then saw a goal of his own ruled out. And despite dominating in the opening exchanges, it took an Al Dossary own goal for Al Nassr to take the lead after the Al Taawoun centre-back inadvertently headed Mane’s cross past the 29-year-old goalkeeper.
The hosts pushed to double their advantage after the restart as Mane hit the post with a well-struck effort, while Kingsley Coman was twice thwarted by Mailson. Ronaldo was then brought down for a penalty, but the decision was overturned after replays showed the 40-year-old was offside in the build up.
Mailson was again called into action late on to prevent Ronaldo at his near post to give Al Taawoun a fighting chance of an upset but ultimately Al Nassr did just enough to claim all the spoils to move into second.
With yesterday’s victory, Al Nassr raised their tally to 40 points, placing second in the standings, narrowing the gap with the leading Al Hilal to five points.
On the other hand, Al Taawoun’s tally froze at 35 points in fifth place, missing the opportunity to get closer to the competition’s top four.