40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring drought extended to five matches as Al Nassr edged out home side Al Ahli 3-2 in a man-down encounter in round 20 of the Pro League.
Al Nassr were forced to play with ten men from the 47th minute after French center-back Mohamed Simakan received a straight red card and was suspended, at a time when the visitors had taken a 1-0 lead through substitute striker Jhon Duran. Under the relentless pressure from Al Ahli, coach Stefano Pioli decided to take Ronaldo off to give him a rest and bring on a defender to strengthen the backline.
Before the substitution, Pioli called Ronaldo near the touchline and said a few words to him. The Portuguese superstar then went over to some of his teammates to offer encouragement before leaving the pitch, receiving support from the coaching staff as he went. Despite not having scored in the match, Ronaldo did not seem upset by his early exit.
This was the earliest Ronaldo has been substituted while wearing the Al Nassr shirt in a match that wasn’t a goalless performance or due to injury. The 40-year-old forward, eager to inch closer to the 1,000-goal milestone, accepted his substitution in favor of defender Mohammed Al Fatil. His replacement on the field, 21-year-old Jhon Duran, is not only young but also more physically robust and capable of contributing defensively from a distance.
After the match, Duran praised Ronaldo’s attitude in having to leave early. “Ronaldo makes everything simpler for us,” said the former Aston Villa striker. “He is the greatest player in history, yet he’s always willing to help the team. This is a positive for Al Nassr.”
In his 76 minutes on the pitch, Ronaldo’s performance was subdued—he managed only one shot, which was saved by an opposition player, and he did not create any clear-cut scoring chances for his teammates, recording just 12 passes.
Just two minutes after Ronaldo’s exit, Al Ahli’s forward Ivan Toney pulled one back to make it 1-1. Despite being a man down, Al Nassr responded by scoring two quick goals in the 80th and 88th minutes, courtesy of strikes from Ayman Yahya and Duran, to regain a 3-1 lead. In stoppage time, Sumayhan Al-nabit managed to reduce the deficit for Al Ahli, but it wasn’t enough to overturn the result.
Al Ahli is one of the four strong teams in the Pro League owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, alongside Al Nassr, Al Hilal, and Al Ittihad. According to Opta’s power rankings, Al Ahli currently stand 167th in the world, which is 86 places lower than Al Nassr. In the two most recent meetings against this opponent, Ronaldo had failed to score.
The early substitution may help Ronaldo conserve energy for the upcoming AFC Champions League group stage match against Persepolis (Iran) on the evening of February 17. In the two previous encounters with that opponent, he also failed to find the net.