Talisca at the double as Al-Nassr go second

RIYADH: Anderson Talisca fired Al-Nassr into second in the Roshn Saudi League with two goals in a 3-1 win at Al-Fayha on Saturday, a 13th victory in 14 games in all competitions for the Yellows.

The win means Al-Nassr are four points behind leaders Al-Hilal and, at the moment, appear the only team capable of stopping the Blues from claiming title number 19. The start of the season, and successive losses, feels like an age ago.

There is still a long time to go this season, but the win showed that there was little fatigue from that epic 4-3 win over Al-Duhail of Qatar in the Asian Champions League on Monday.

While Al-Fayha almost took the lead through Fashion Sakala inside the first 30 seconds of the match, Al-Nassr did most of the pressing as they looked to go forward.

It was no surprise that the visitors were full of confidence and attacking intent given their recent form. Perhaps the only eyebrow-raiser was the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo, the top scorer in the league, did not add to his season tally of 11.

Coach Luis Castro will not be too bothered, as his team is showing that it can score without the five-time Ballon D’or winner — even if his assists have been crucial, too.

Ronaldo did his utmost to put the team in front and saw a shot saved by Vladamir Stojkovic just after the half hour. The Portuguese star had head in hands seconds before the break, as his cross from the right was pushed out by the Serbian goalkeeper into the chest of the onrushing Abdulrahman Ghareeb, with the ball bouncing back off the post.

Al-Fayha, who lost 4-1 at the UAE home of Al-Ain on Monday, were delighted to have been keeping their opponents goalless, but the deadlock was finally broken five minutes after the restart as Al-Nassr