Al-Nassr beat Ettifaq 3-1 on Friday to move back to within 10 points of leaders Al-Hilal in the Roshn Saudi League, and for once the headlines did not belong to Cristiano Ronaldo or Anderson Talisca.
Alex Telles has had a fine season since signing from Manchester United in the summer but few expected him to produce a goal of the season contender. Ettifaq had frustrated the hosts until two minutes from the end of the first half and must have thought that a defensive header out of the box that was looping toward Telles standing 30 meters from goal was enough to clear the danger. Yet the Brazilian fullback fired a spectacular volley that flew into the top corner of the net to give his compatriot Paulo Victor no chance.
Just before the hour it was the turn of another summer arrival to get on the score sheet. Just as Ettifaq were starting to cause the Riyadh giants some problems, Ronaldo headed the ball through a crowded area for Marcelo Brozovic to steer his shot past the keeper for his first in the league for the Yellows. It was the ninth assist of the season for the Portuguese star.
With 17 minutes remaining, Ronaldo got goal No. 17 to return to the top of the scoring standings, slotting a penalty into the bottom corner to give Victor no chance.
Mohammed Al-Kuwaykibi pulled a goal back for the visitors with five minutes remaining, stealing in at the far post past a sleepy defense, but the points were never in doubt for Al-Nassr who can now prepare for a huge game against Al-Ittihad.
Failure to win would almost mean the end of the title race after Al-Hilal picked up their 19th successive victory 24 hours earlier.
In contrast, Ettifaq have now gone eight league games without a win and have slipped to eighth in the table.
Al-Ahli moved into third with a 4-0 win at Al-Hazm. Riyad Mahrez got the ball rolling on the stroke of halftime, with Gabri Veiga adding a second just before the hour.
The victory was sealed by Firas Al-Buraikan with nine minutes remaining and Merih Demiral added the cherry on top in added time.
Al-Shabab’s indifferent season continued with a 1-0 loss at Al-Okhdoud, a win that saw the hosts climb above the visitors and into 12th.