Days after suffering a damaging home loss to Al Qadsiah, Nassr took on league leaders Al Hilal in a huge top-of-the-table clash. The visitors looked more likely to score in the first half, with Ronaldo's side fashioning six shots on goal to the hosts' one. After fashioning some decent chances from Kingsley Coman and Ronaldo, the 40-year-old bagged his 16th goal in all competitions with a clinical finish into the top corner after a neat assist from his French teammate in the 42nd minute.
But all their good work in the first half was undone in a matter of minutes early in the second half. Firstly, Mohamed Simakan clumsily brought down Malcom in the box, and Salem Al Dawsari converted the subsequent spotkick in the 57th minute. Seconds later, Al Hilal's Ruben Neves was clutching his face, while writhing on the ground, after a coming together with goalkeeper Nawaf Al Aqidi.
After initially being given a yellow card, Al Aqidi's booking was upgraded to red for violent conduct following a VAR review, and for the final half hour, Al Nassr were down to 10 men. And their despair was complete when Mohamed Kanno fired in from close range with nine minutes remaining. To really rub salt into their gaping wound, Neves tucked home a penalty in the 92nd minute after Ali Al Hassan brought down Al Dawsari in the area. Al Nassr have now lost three games on the spin, with their last victory coming back on 27 December.
