Ronaldo grabs 25th goal of season as Al-Nassr tighten grip on Saudi Pro League

RIYADH: The energy at Al-Awwal Park on Wednesday night was palpable. After all, an encounter between Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli rarely disappoints; four of their last six meetings have produced four goals or more.

But with the stakes as high as they were for both clubs at this late stage of the season, it was perhaps no surprise that it took 75 minutes to produce the first goal of the game.

Ultimately, Al-Nassr rallied to a 2-0 home victory, with goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Kingsley Coman in the final quarter of an hour securing their 26th win of the season.

Both teams came into the game knowing that victory would significantly boost their title hopes: A win for the hosts would effectively eliminate Al-Ahli from the title race, while a victory for the visitors might have cut the gap to just 4 points, assuming they win their game in hand.

With so much for both sides to play for, then, the atmosphere was deafening in Riyadh. However, it did not translate into the goalsfest Pro League fans have come to expect from the fixture; before the opener, the teams managed only seven shots between them.

Al-Nassr undoubtedly held the advantage on the night, knowing that a draw would be enough to protect their lead at the top of the table. Al-Ahli, on the other hand, had little option other than to push for the victory.

Yet Matthias Jaissle’s side, fresh off a second-consecutive AFC Champions League title triumph, looked a shadow of the dominant, attacking team that had tormented defenses across Asia.

The Greens focused on attempting to unsettle Al-Nassr on the ball with aggressive man-to-man pressing, and while they were successful in doing so for most of the match, this approach severely limited their own attacking threat.

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