AFPAl-Nassr overturned a two-goal deficit to beat hosts Al-Ettifaq 3-2, and they did it a man down from the 12th minute in a thrilling third-round clash in the Saudi Roshn League.
Losing goalkeeper Bento to a red card left Al-Alami staring at a heavy defeat. They dug in after the break, hauled themselves level and completed a historic comeback to snatch all three points.
Al-Ettifaq made their extra man count. They pressed, they probed, and in the 31st minute they broke through. Doda collected the ball on the edge of the box and lashed it into the top corner, past the Al-Nassr keeper.
Deep into first-half stoppage time, on 45+3, Alvaro Medran doubled the lead. Latching onto a pass from Yasser Al-Shammari, he unleashed a powerful strike from outside the box to send the hosts in 2-0 up at the break.
Chasing a comeback after the break, Al-Nassr made a change: Abdullah Al-Khaibari on for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Iñigo Martínez came within inches of pulling one back in the 53rd minute, only to see his shot strike the post. Al-Ettifaq's goalkeeper then repelled an effort from João Félix.
Félix turned provider in the 74th minute, threading a ball through to Sadio Mané. The Senegalese striker burst into the box and drilled a right-footed finish into the far corner, hauling Al-Nassr back into the contest.
The equaliser followed soon after. Félix swung in a corner in the 77th minute and Abdulelah Al-Amri met it from close range, burying his header to make it 2-2.
Al-Nassr kept the pressure on. Al-Ettifaq's goalkeeper saved from Mané in the 82nd minute, and Al-Alami was flagged offside twice in the 89th and 90th minutes.
Then came the winner. Sami Al-Najei drove a rapid counter-attack in the 90th minute and slipped the ball to Mané, who fired home the third from the middle of the box.
The result took Al-Nassr to nine points and, temporarily, to the top of the table. Al-Ettifaq stayed stuck on six, down in sixth place.
Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting
