Two penalties scored by the Portuguese led to Al Nassr's 2-5 victory against Al Ittihad
MADRID, 26 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Al Nassr won this Tuesday 2-5 in their visit to Al Ittihad, with a double included from Cristiano Ronaldo when he scored two penalties, in a match on matchday 18 in the Saudi Professional League and which helped the Portuguese to reunite with the Frenchman Karim Benzema, both forwards having shared countless successes at Real Madrid.
At the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Abderrazak Hamdallah opened the scoring for the hosts with a low shot after a slalom in the rival area. But Cristiano equalized in the 19th minute, converting his first maximum penalty, and Anderson Talisca made it 1-2 before the break, with a right hand near the goalkeeper after fighting well against a defender.
Although Hamdallah equalized in the 52nd minute by heading in a free kick, Al Nassr resolved it with another penalty scored by Cristiano and with two goals from Sadio Mané on the counterattack, taking advantage of their numerical superiority due to the expulsion of Fabinho. This settled the visitors with 43 points in second place in the league and left Al Ittihad with 28 points in sixth place.