- Al-Nassr trailed bottom side Al-Batin
- Ronaldo effort cleared off the line
- But team still completes shock turn around
WHAT HAPPENED? Cristiano Ronaldo's side survived a huge scare on Friday as they managed to come behind from 1-0 down to win 3-1 against Al-Batin, who sit bottom of the Saudi Pro League. But despite the last-gasp comeback, there was no room on the score sheet for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who instead saw his best effort of the evening cleared off the line early on.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: A home fixture against Al-Batin, who have won once in the Saudi Pro League all season, was the perfect opportunity for Al-Nassr to leapfrog Al-Ittihad at the top of the table. However, they fell behind just 17 minutes into the game thanks to a goal from Renzo Lopez and couldn't find a way back into the contest despite dominating possession.
Ronaldo rounded the goalkeeper in the first half and rolled the ball towards an open goal, but saw his effort hooked off the line.
AND WHAT'S MORE: His claims for a penalty early in the second half were then waved away as Al-Nassr continued to probe, with Ronaldo struggling to carve out any clear chances. However, with 12 minutes of added time announced at the end of the game, Al-Nassr drew level through Abdulrahman Ghareeb in the 93rd minute, before goals from Mohammed Al-Fatil and Mohammed Maran completed the comeback and snatched all three points away from their visitors.
While the victory is the most important thing, a frustrating evening for Ronaldo follows on from a brilliant month of February in Saudi Arabia, where he won the Player of the Month award for his performances.
Next Match
WHAT NEXT? Three points for Al-Nassr against the league's bottom side makes their next fixture against title rivals Al-Ittihad all the more tantalising. The two clash on March 9, where all eyes will once again be on how Ronaldo can impact the game.
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