Cristiano Ronaldo penalty not enough! Al-Nassr suffer damaging Saudi Pro League defeat to Al Qadsiah as title hopes take another blow
Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi Pro League title hopes took a blow after Al-Nassr's disappointing 2-1 loss to Al-Qadsiah at Al-Awwal Park on Thursday. Ronaldo's side were on top for large periods but second-half goals from Julián Quiñones and Nahitan Nández put the visitors in control. A late Ronaldo penalty set up a grandstand finish but Al-Nassr missed the chance to close the gap to table-topping Al-Hilal.Despite the galling defeat, Al-Nassr started brightly and went close through former Bayern Munich star Kingsley Coman and ex-Atletico Madrid ace Joao Felix. Things weren't clicking for captain Ronaldo, who had a quiet first half where the hosts had nine shots to the visitors' three, and they produced an Expected Goals tally of 1.16 to 0.3. But the home crowd was stunned when a corner kick went horribly wrong. After the away team cleared the set piece, the ball was passed back to goalkeeper Al-Aqidi, who dawdled on the ball for too long and his attempted punt up field was charged down by Quiñones, who raced away to tap into an empty net in the 51st minute. Things went from bad to worse 15 minutes later when Nandez slammed home the rebound after Mateo Retegui's shot was saved. Al-Nassr were handed a lifeline when Jehad Thakri was penalised for a handball and Ronaldo converted the spot-kick with nine minutes remaining. Jorge Jesus' team pushed for an equaliser but they couldn't draw level despite there being 10 minutes of stoppage time. The result means they stay second, four points behind Al-Hilal. Al Qadsiah, on the other hand, are up to fourth.While Quiñones showed quick thinking to pressurise Al-Aqidi for the opener, Nandez was a thorn in Al-Nassr's side all night and bagged a deserved goal in their victory. Even though they didn't create as many chances or have as much of the ball, the visitors had more shots on target and deserved to get at least a point from the game. In the end, they bagged all three.Al-Nassr started this season like a runaway train but as the campaign has progressed, they have been hauled in by Al-Hilal. And things could have been very different in this contest if Al-Aqidi hadn't made an inexplicable error. Now, their game in hand is gone and they are four points back in second.Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
Cristiano Ronaldo's Saudi Pro League title hopes took a blow after Al-Nassr's disappointing 2-1 loss to Al-Qadsiah at Al-Awwal Park on Thursday. Ronaldo's side were on top for large periods but second-half goals from Julián Quiñones and Nahitan Nández put the visitors in control. A late Ronaldo penalty set up a grandstand finish but Al-Nassr missed the chance to close the gap to table-topping Al-Hilal.Despite the galling defeat, Al-Nassr started brightly and went close through former Bayern Munich star Kingsley Coman and ex-Atletico Madrid ace Joao Felix. Things weren't clicking for captain Ronaldo, who had a quiet first half where the hosts had nine shots to the visitors' three, and they produced an Expected Goals tally of 1.16 to 0.3. But the home crowd was stunned when a corner kick went horribly wrong. After the away team cleared the set piece, the ball was passed back to goalkeeper Al-Aqidi, who dawdled on the ball for too long and his attempted punt up field was charged down by Quiñones, who raced away to tap into an empty net in the 51st minute. Things went from bad to worse 15 minutes later when Nandez slammed home the rebound after Mateo Retegui's shot was saved. Al-Nassr were handed a lifeline when Jehad Thakri was penalised for a handball and Ronaldo converted the spot-kick with nine minutes remaining. Jorge Jesus' team pushed for an equaliser but they couldn't draw level despite there being 10 minutes of stoppage time. The result means they stay second, four points behind Al-Hilal. Al Qadsiah, on the other hand, are up to fourth.While Quiñones showed quick thinking to pressurise Al-Aqidi for the opener, Nandez was a thorn in Al-Nassr's side all night and bagged a deserved goal in their victory. Even though they didn't create as many chances or have as much of the ball, the visitors had more shots on target and deserved to get at least a point from the game. In the end, they bagged all three.Al-Nassr started this season like a runaway train but as the campaign has progressed, they have been hauled in by Al-Hilal. And things could have been very different in this contest if Al-Aqidi hadn't made an inexplicable error. Now, their game in hand is gone and they are four points back in second.Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
