Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Okhdood: Ronaldo and Mane inspire comeback triumph

Al-Nassr surged into third place in the Saudi Pro League with a thrilling 3-1 comeback win over Al-Okhdood, thanks to a brace from Sadio Mane. The victory came after Al-Nassr had fallen behind early, but they showed resilience to secure an important three points at Al-Awwal Park on Thursday.

Coming off a loss to league leaders Al-Ittihad in their previous Saudi Pro League match, Al-Nassr responded strongly, dominating the game to leapfrog into third place in the standings. Al-Okhdood took a surprising early lead in the sixth minute when a cross from Christian Bassogog was mishandled, allowing Saviour Godwin to slot the ball home from close range.

Mane quickly equalized for Al-Nassr after a header from Sultan Al Ghannam was superbly saved by Al-Okhdood goalkeeper Paulo Vitor, but the Senegalese forward was on hand to finish the rebound. Just before halftime, Al-Nassr took the lead when Damion Lowe fouled Mane inside the penalty area, and Cristiano Ronaldo converted the resulting penalty.

Despite continued dominance after the break, Al-Nassr struggled to add a third goal, with Otavio, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, and Angelo unable to test Vitor. However, their persistence paid off late in the match when Al Ghannam delivered a precise cross, which Mane headed into the bottom right corner to seal the win and score his fifth league goal of the season.

Post-match Analysis: Al-Nassr Back on Track

Heading into Thursday’s match, Al-Nassr had lost two of their last three Saudi Pro League games, a number of defeats equal to their total losses from their previous 42 league matches. However, they bounced back strongly to get back in the title race with this impressive victory.

Al-Nassr ended the game with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.65 from 14 attempts, while limiting Al-Okhdood to just 0.33 xG from seven attempts. Ronaldo also added another milestone, having now scored four goals in three games against Al-Okhdood in the Saudi Pro League (two at home and one away), marking his fourth instance of scoring in his first three games against a single opponent in the competition (after Al-Fateh, Al-Wehdah, and Al-Shabab).