Al-Nassr have defeated Al-Fayha on Saturday 3-1 to earn another important victory in the Saudi Pro League.
After earning consecutive wins over Damac and Al-Duhail, Al-Nassr looked to maintain their form and close the gap on rivals Al-Hilal.
However, they were dealt a double injury blow before their away clash with Al-Fayha as both Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic were ruled out of the game due to injury.
Head coach Luis Castro had to make tactical changes to his lineup and deployed Abdulrahman Ghareeb in midfield to form a partnership with Seko Fofana while Abdullah Madu started in defence.
The opening minutes saw Al-Fayha look threatening on the counter-attack as they tried to exploit Al-Nassr’s defensive frailties this season.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first sight at goal came in the 32nd minute as he went through but his shot was aimed straight at the goalkeeper and was easily parried away.
Just minutes later, the Portuguese’s cross found a surging Abdulrahman Ghareeb but the latter’s shot hit the post in what was their best chance of the half.
Despite a frustrating 45 minutes for the visitors, Al-Nassr found another gear in the second half as they took the lead after the break from a well-crafted move.
Ghareeb combined with Ronaldo whose perfectly-weighted pass set up Anderson Talisca at the edge of the box to fire his side into the lead.
The Brazilian added his second and doubled Al-Nassr’s advantage at the hour mark following a precise header from an Alex Telles delivery.
Al-Fayha struck back in the 66th minute from a set piece but their comeback attempts were quickly put to a halt with Otavio netting a belter 10 minutes later to put the game to bed.
Al-Nassr’s upcoming game will be in the King Cup’s round of 16 against Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq on Tuesday, October 31st.