Ronaldo was absent again as Al-Nassr secured their sixth consecutive victory.

Al-Nassr claimed their sixth consecutive triumph in the Saudi Pro League after beating Al-Ittihad with a 2-0 scoreline.

The match unfolded with Al-Nassr dominating possession for the majority of the game. From the opening minutes, the home team pushed forward aggressively, applying pressure on Al-Ittihad’s goal. Sadio Mane was the most active player in the attack, consistently creating threatening chances. Early in the game, the Senegalese striker had a shot deflected that forced goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic into a remarkable save.

However, Al-Nassr also benefited from some luck when VAR overturned a penalty awarded to Al-Ittihad after the ball appeared to hit Mohamed Simakan’s hand inside the box. After reviewing the video footage, the referee decided not to award the penalty, sparing the home side from a difficult situation.

Shortly after, Joao Felix tried his luck with a long-range shot but failed to beat Rajkovic. Mane then missed another chance by shooting over the crossbar from a perfect assist by Kingsley Coman. Nevertheless, these moments demonstrated Al-Nassr’s complete control of the match and it was only a matter of time before they scored.

The breakthrough came in the 84th minute. Mohammed Barnawi handled the ball while trying to block Aiman Yahya’s shot inside the penalty area, prompting the referee to immediately point to the penalty spot. From the spot, Sadio Mane calmly deceived Rajkovic to give Al-Nassr the lead. This crucial goal relieved the pressure on the home team and forced Al-Ittihad to push forward in search of an equalizer.

However, after conceding, Al-Ittihad became completely ineffective and failed to produce any further shots on target. On the other hand, Al-Nassr made excellent use of the spaces in the final minutes. In the 90+6th minute, Angelo made a spectacular sprint from his own half, entered the penalty box, and fired a shot past Rajkovic to seal the 2-0 victory.

This win narrowed Al-Nassr’s gap to the league leaders Al-Hilal to just one point, intensifying the thrilling title race in the Saudi Pro League. More importantly, it proved that even without Cristiano Ronaldo, Jorge Jesus’ team can still operate smoothly and maintain high performance levels.