On the night of August 14, Ronaldo scored and assisted to help Al Nassr beat Al Taawon 2-0 in the Saudi Arabia Super Cup semi-finals.
Ronaldo left a strong mark in Al Nassr’s victory.
Against an underrated opponent, Al Nassr started the game with confidence and only needed 8 minutes to open the scoring. Starting from Sadio Mane’s breakthrough and cross on the left wing, Ronaldo stretched to finish but failed. Yahya was there at the right time to create a cut-off point to break through Al Taawoon’s net.
After the break, Ronaldo was not at his best. In the rest of the first half, the Portuguese superstar missed a one-on-one chance and almost had another assist. However, Mane’s shot was blocked by the diving goalkeeper.
On the other hand, Al Taawon had no attacking moves other than long-range shots. However, the semi-finalists as hosts still caused a lot of trouble for Al Nassr with Joao Pedro’s daring moves. The SPL runner-up’s new goalkeeper, Bento, played with concentration to keep his net safe.
Al Nassr continued to dominate in the second half. After several failed attempts, Ronaldo scored in the 57th minute. From Al Ghannam’s pass, Ronaldo accurately shot into the near corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance to block.
If he was luckier, the Portuguese captain could have scored a double. In the 66th minute, CR7 shot from an open position but the ball hit the outside edge of the post.
The match ended with a victory for Al Nassr. The home team at Al-Awwal Park entered the Super Cup final for the first time since 2020.
Since 2022, the Saudi Arabian Super Cup has changed its format to a tournament with the participation of the top 4 teams of the national championship. In the first semi-final, Al Hilal defeated Al Ahli to reach the final.
Al Hilal is the strongest club in Saudi Arabia at the moment. Without Neymar, coach Jorge Jesus’ team still won the 2023/24 SPL championship and defeated Al Nassr to win the King’s Cup last season. Al Hilal has been unbeaten in 10 consecutive matches against Al Nassr.
