Cristiano Ronaldo shines as Al Nassr beats Al Faisaly 3-1 in VAR-filled clash

Barely three minutes had gone by at Al Majma'a Sport City Stadium when Abdullah Al Hamddan was already celebrating. His right-footed strike from outside the box, set up by a Sadio Mané assist, made it 0-1 almost before the home side had settled into the game. That's how it all finished too: Al Faisaly 1, Al Nassr 3, with the visitors wrapping up the Saudi Pro League fixture without too many scares, save for a couple of minutes of VAR confusion.

The story of the first half was written in that lightning-fast start. Al Faisaly had their moments, with Alexandre Mendy testing his luck a couple of times and Andrei Girotto trying his hand from distance, but they couldn't trouble the opposing goal much. Cristiano Ronaldo gave a warning in the 31st minute with a left-footed effort that crashed off the right post, set up by João Félix. The 0-1 scoreline held until halftime.

VAR chaos in the second half

The second half began in the worst possible way for Al Faisaly: in the 48th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo rose for a header inside the box to make it 0-2 after a João Félix cross that followed a cleared free kick. The goal was confirmed after a VAR review. But the match didn't settle down: just three minutes later, in the 51st minute, another Ronaldo goal was ruled out by VAR, with official confirmation arriving the following minute that it wouldn't count. The score stood at 0-2 for Al Nassr, though the atmosphere was already stirred up.

Al Faisaly got their reward in the 65th minute: Théo Bongonda, who had come on just minutes earlier, headed in a Mohammed Al Shanqiti cross to make it 1-2, bringing some tension back to the match. The home side's hopes didn't last long. In the 78th minute, Ângelo, also a recent substitute, finished left-footed inside the box off an Abdullah Al Hamddan assist to seal the final 1-3. Late on, Al Faisaly still hit the crossbar with a header from Alexandre Mendy, but no more goals followed.

The numbers behind the match

Possession was split almost evenly, but the shots-on-target numbers better reflect the gap in cutting edge between the two sides.

According to our post-match xG estimate based on the shots taken in the game, Al Faisaly generated 1.575 expected goals against 0.511 for Al Nassr. That stands out because the home side had more offensive volume in the shot map, but lacked precision: only two of their twelve attempts were on target, while Al Nassr converted nearly half of theirs into goals.

Ahead of the match, our projections gave Al Nassr a 68% chance of winning, with a 19% chance of a draw and just 13% for Al Faisaly, with expected-goal forecasts of 2.53 for the visitors and 1.05 for the home side. The final result bore that out: Al Nassr won comfortably, though the 1-3 scoreline ended up tighter in total goals than that projection suggested.

What it means in the standings

With this result, Al Nassr stays in second place in the Saudi Pro League, with 25 points from 10 matches played, level on points with the leaders but behind on tiebreakers. Al Faisaly, meanwhile, remain in 15th place with just 7 points from 10 outings, a record of one win, four draws and five losses that reflects the struggles they're going through this season. The 18-point gap between the two sides in the table illustrates the contrast in form between the two clubs.