RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo drew a blank but some of his clinical finishing seems to be rubbing off on teammates, as Al-Nassr defeated Abha 3-1 on Tuesday to stroll into the semi-finals of the King’s Cup.
So comfortable was the victory for the Riyadh side that toward the end coach Rudi Garcia had the luxury of being able to substitute the 38-year-old, five-time Ballon D’or winner, who had been booked just before the break.
The fact that Garcia was able to replace the Portuguese star with the league’s top scorer, Anderson Talisca, recently recovered from injury, was evidence that Al-Nassr seem more than capable of continuing to challenge on two fronts.
In addition to their cup run, they sit in second spot in the league just a point behind Al-Ittihad, and will return to that campaign on Saturday when they again face Abha.