Till a few days ago, Al-Nassr had notched up their 10th straight victory in the opening 10 games of the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) and were well placed on top of the table. But the next 3 games have yielded just 1 point, putting shackles on the fast-moving Knights of Najd.
Al-Nassr drew with Al-Ettifaq (2-2) on 30th December and then lost to Al-Ahli Saudi (2-3) on the 2nd of January, thus relinquishing their position to Al-Hilal at the top of the table. It was therefore crucial for Al-Nassr to get full points from their home encounter against a tricky Al-Qadsiyah, to keep close to Al-Hilal, but the yellow army missed big time last night.
Al-Nassr made several moves and played with great authority and conviction, but floundered when it mattered. They missed several chances. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kingsley Coman and Joao Felix, all three stars, were guilty of poor finishing, which unfortunately came back to haunt them.
Al-Qadsiyah, on the other hand, were brilliant in defence. They were organised and made Al-Nassr fight for every ball. Casteels, Al-Qadsiyah’s goalkeeper, was in sublime form. Julian Quinones, the Mexican, was the pick of the Al-Qadsiyah forwards. He was a live wire in the field, working hard to get into the Al-Nassr box all the time. His perseverance paid off as Alaqidi, the Al-Nassr goalkeeper, made a terrible error.
With Quinones running around the Al-Nassr box, Alaqidi attempted a casual clearance, which hit Quinones instead. The ball ricocheted off him, and with Alaqidi miles outside the box, Quinones scampered with the ball and, with a vacant goal in front of him, scored against the run of play. Alaqidi had nowhere to hide.
In the 66th minute, Quinones and Nandez combined to score the second goal with Nandez striking one in a goalmouth scramble. Al-Nassr were down two goals and staring at a painful defeat in front of a sellout crowd.
Al-Nassr got one back through a penalty in the 81st minute. Ronaldo made it look easy, but that was all Al-Nassr could do. Al-Qadsiyah defended bravely and denied Al-Nassr, to win the game.
Al-Hilal are 4 points clear of Al-Nassr now after 13 games. However, both the top two teams play each other in a blockbuster of a match on Monday night at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. The result will have a great bearing on the title hopes of both teams.
Al-Nassr hardly have time to nurse their wounds. The next few matches will test their character.
Read Quick, Read Better @ rizkhan.in
Visit Sports FACTory YouTube Channel