Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights

By Sports Desk November 08, 2024

Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.

He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.

Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.

Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.

The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.

Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.

Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr

After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points. 

It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.

They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.

This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout. 

Related items

  • Everton x-x Brentford: xxx Everton x-x Brentford: xxx
  • Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner Man United could be without Toone until new year, says Skinner

    Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training. 

    Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term. 

    The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.

    She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.

    But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.

    "We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said. 

    "But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.

    "So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.

    "The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.

    "But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."

  • Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run. 

    Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.

    The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.

    However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.

    Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang. 

    The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.

    Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand. 

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.