Al Ittihad 3-1 Al Nassr FC: Cristiano Ronaldo led Al Nassr knocked out of Saudi Super Cup
The professional debut for Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr just keeps getting worse as his team gets knocked out of the Super Cup by the hands of Al Ittihad.
After having failed to score in his debut competitive game, Ronaldo took field as the captain of Al Nassr in the semifinal game against Al Ittihad in Super Cup. And things just didn’t turn up for them as they were handed a 3-1 beating.
Romarinho of Al Ittihad turned out to be the difference between the two sides. The Brazilian center forward was involved in 3 goals, out of which he scored 1 and set up the other two to help his team over the line.
Romarinho scores in first half
The game started well enough for Al Nassr. With Ronaldo leading the attack they seemed to be in control. They created some early chances as well, but none went past the defensive line.
On the other hand however they had a wide open defense that Al Ittihad forwards were able to penetrate from time to time. As a result, Romarinho popped in the first goal of the match in just 15 minutes.
The first half continued in the same fashion with Al Nassr coming close everytime to scoring, but not being able to. The Al Ittihad was rock solid and always ensured to see out the threat posed by Ronaldo.
Romarinho and his teammates continued marching on their own rhythm though and managed to pull up another goal before the end of first half. It was another goal that involved Romarinho who this time delivered a great cross for Hamdallah to slot home comfortably.
Ronaldo led Al Nassr humiliated by Al Ittihad
In the second half a bunch of changes were introduced by both the teams. And this saw Al Nassr score one goal as well.
Luis Gustavo and Andersno Talisca found their passes right and what resulted was a consolation goal for Al Nassr in the 67th minute of the game.
Al Ittihad sealed the deal in the 90+ minute by grabbing a late 3rd goal. This time it was Shaqueeti who found the back of net, but was again set up by the man of the match Romarinho.
As a result, Al Nassr faced their first professional defeat since the arrival and appointment of Cristiano Ronaldo as their new captain.
The club will be ruing their missed chances, as Ronaldo came close on several occasions to put in his first goal in Al Nassr’s color. But they will be hoping to do better with their link up play.
The cup might have been lost, but they have the league to win still. They are currently on top of the table in the Saudi Pro League with 33 points to their name.
