Al-Nassr lacked many key stars when facing Al Ettifaq in the first round of the Saudi Arabian National Championship.
This morning, Al Ettifaq welcomed Al-Nassr at home in the first round of the Saudi Arabian league. As expected by many experts, Al-Nassr was greatly disturbed in terms of personnel when he just won the Arab Club Champions Cup.
Some key faces of Al-Nassr are not on the registration list. Typical among them is superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Besides CR7, stars like Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles, Seko Fofana… did not play. The responsibility to score goals is placed on Sadio Mane’s shoulders.
On the other side of the line, Al Ettifaq has the presence of Steven Gerrard on the training bench. Besides, Al Ettifaq owns some notable stars such as: Jordan Henderson, Robin Quaison, and Moussa Dembele.
The match kicked off shortly after the opening whistle. In the 4th minute, coming from Ali Alhassan’s horizontal cross on the right wing, Mane hit the right shot from close range, opening the score.
Al-Nassr continued to have some good opportunities but failed to capitalize on them. At the end of the first 45 minutes, Al-Nassr led Al Ettifaq 1-0.
The situation reversed quickly in the second half. 47 minutes, Robin Quaison shot a quick shot in the penalty area, equalizing 1-1 for Al Ettifaq.
After the equalizer, Al Ettifaq played excitedly. After 53 minutes, the home team got the second goal. Moussa Dembele shot from close range accurately, making it 2-1 for Al Ettifaq.
For the rest of the match, Al-Nassr actively accelerated but was powerless to find the second goal. Results after 90 minutes, Al Ettifaq won 2-1 against Al-Nassr.
Final score: Al Ettifaq 2-1 Al-Nassr
