Cristiano Ronaldo and Anderson Talisca scored near the end as Al-Nassr came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Abha and continue to chase Al-Ittihad at the top of the Saudi Professional Football League on Saturday.
It seemed that Al-Nassr would lose for the second match in a row, after stumbling 1-0 against Al-Ittihad in the previous round, as it was delayed by a goal scored by its former player, Abdel-Fattah Adam, in the first half.
But Ronaldo, who joined Al-Nasr in a huge deal in the last winter transfer period, equalized with a free kick in the 78th minute, to open his record of goals at Al-Nasr Stadium, Marsool Park.
Brazilian Talisca added a penalty kick, awarded after Adam’s handball, after 8 minutes, to raise his tally to 14 league goals this season.
Abha ended the match with ten players after Zakaria Al-Sudani was sent off after Ronaldo’s goal one minute after he received a second warning.
Al-Nasr scored 49 points from 21 matches and ranks second, one point behind leaders Al-Ittihad, who crushed Al-Fateh 5-1.
Al-Nassr beat Abha 3-1 last Tuesday in the quarter-finals of the King’s Cup.
