Al Nassr’s victory puts them in third place with 22 points, six points behind leader Al Hilal and five points behind second-place Al Ittihad.
In Friday’s Saudi Pro League 2024–25 encounter at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Al Nassr maintained its midweek form by defeating Al Riyadh 1-0.
Sadio Mane’s goal late in the first half gave the visitor the victory and moved them up to third place in the standings with 22 points, five points behind second-place Al Ittihad and six points behind leader Al Hilal.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s attempt from within the box was stopped in front of goal in the thirteenth minute, giving Al Nassr their first genuine opportunity of the match.
After gliding in the box from the left and slapping his right foot at the ball in an attempt to target the far corner, Cristiano Ronaldo forced a fine save from Milan Borjan, the goalkeeper for Al Riyadh, a few minutes later.
Shortly after, Borjan was called upon once more to block a left-footed volley from Anderson Talisca from outside the box.
In the 36th minute, Borjan came closest to giving Al Nassr the lead when he stopped Talisca’s header from a corner and then made another save to keep Ronaldo from scoring from close range. Mohamed Simakan ruined the opportunity by slamming the rebounded ball against the left post.
After accurately catching a pass from Ghareeb from the right inside the box, five minutes later, Mane made the breakthrough. With the ball coming in off the crossbar, Mane took a first-time attempt.
Al Riyadh entered the second half determined to score, and if it weren’t for center-back Ali Lajami’s fast thinking in nicking the ball away from Mohammed Al-Aqel as he was sprinting onto a cross that was delivered into the box, they would have had an equalizer in the 55th minute.
After receiving a pass from Mane, Talisca had the entire goal to finish in the 88th minute, but he ended up launching the ball into the stands, securing the victory.
Borjan made another outstanding stop to keep his team in the match after Ronaldo thought he had slipped one into the net with a strike into the bottom corner.
