Cristiano Ronaldo's sensational strike was not enough to fire Al-Nassr to victory as they are held to a 2-2 draw by Al-Shabab.
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Al-Nassr drop points at homePioli's men are winless in last three gamesRonaldo & Co in danger of missing ACL spotsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱AFPTELL ME MORE
Stefano Pioli was looking for a reaction from his side in front of home fans after two winless matches and his troops once again disappointed him.
They had a promising start to the game, with Ronaldo and Sadio Mane looking dangerous in attack and Marcelo Brozovic and Ali Alhassan dictating proceedings from midfield. But they failed to make the most of their dominance and instead found themselves trailing after Daniel Podence was clipped from behind by Nawaf Boushal inside the box. Abderrazak Hamdallah walked up to take the penalty and beat Bento from 12 yards to put his team in front minutes before half-time.
The lead was short-lived as Ayman Yahya scored the equaliser with a bullet effort after Ronaldo's free-kick was half-heartedly cleared by Al-Shabab's defence. A few minutes later, the Knights of Najdgot their noses in front for the first time in the match with their Portuguese talisman beating Georgiy Bushchan from a tight angle after Mane set him up.
After ending the first half on a bright note, Al-Nassr found themselves reduced to 10-men within six minutes of resumption after Mohammed Al-Fatil brought down Podence who was through on goal after latching on to a loose ball from Brozovic. Al-Shabab smelled blood and upped their ante to get their second goal and were finally rewarded for their persistence when Mohammed Al Shwirekh nodded in from a corner.
Minutes later, in a surprising move, Pioli decided to take off Ronaldo and introduced Jhon Duran. The Colombian failed to have any significant impact on the match and instead it was Bento who pulled off a finger-tip save deep in stoppage time to ensure at least a point for the hosts.
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Ronaldo looked sharp, scored a spectacular goal to put Al-Nassr ahead, but it was his compatriot Podence who was the player of the match. The former Wolves star earned his side the penalty in the first half, kept Mohamed Simakana on his toes and forced Fatil to lunge into a challenge that saw him sent off early in the second half. He was in the thick of things of most major incidents and a truly complete performance from the 29-year-old.
THE BIG LOSER
Podence laid the trap and Al-Fatil simply walked into it. Podence was nowhere near goal, did well to shield the ball from the centre back and Fatil brought him down. Since Podence was through towards goal, the referee had no choice but to send Al-Fatil for an early shower to the dressing room.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Al-Nassr trail third-placed Al-Qadisiya by three points, with Al-Hilal a further three ahead and leaders Al-Ittihad holding a further four points clear. The top three spots are guaranteed an AFC Champions League Elite appearance next campaign and with 10 games remaining, Pioli's men can hardly afford to drop points. However, they will now shift their attention to the second leg of their continental tie against Esteghal on Monday before hosting Al-Kholood in the Pro League next Friday.
