In the Saudi King’s Cup 1/16 round, Al Nassr defeated Al Hazem 2-1 thanks to a goal in the second minute, despite the absence of captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

Al Sayyali 62 – Mane 45+6, Nawaf Boushal 90+2 are the goals.

The Al Jazirah newspaper in Saudi Arabia claims that in order to give Ronaldo, 39, enough time to recover and perform at his peak before two crucial games—against Al Wehda in the Saudi Pro League’s fifth round on September 27 and Qatari club Al Rayyan in the AFC Champions League Elite’s second round on September 30—new coach Stefano Pioli did not register him to play against Al Hazem. Ali Lajami and Marcelo Brozovic were not there since they were still recovering from injuries.

Mane (No. 10) took on the captain’s armband in Ronaldo’s absence and joined his teammates in celebrating their victory over Al Hazem. Pictured: Al Nassr

Due to a sickness, Ronaldo was also unable to play in the AFC Champions League’s first game, a 1-1 draw with Al Shorta on September 16. After a break of four days, the Portuguese striker made a comeback and scored a penalty to assist Al Nassr defeat hosts Al Ettifaq 3-0 in the Saudi Pro League’s fourth round, snapping a two-match losing run.

Since the season began, Ronaldo has scored five goals in six games, bringing his total to 902 goals in 1,163 career games—a goal every 113 minutes. The 39-year-old striker has seven goals and two assists in his previous eight appearances.

Even without Ronaldo, Al Nassr dominated yesterday at King Abdullah Sports City, controlling 65% of the ball and taking 21 shots, eight of which were on target, compared to Al Hazem’s 7 and 2.

In the first half, Al Nassr had nine shots, and Sadio Mane’s goal was disallowed for offside. After multiple opportunities, Mane’s header across the corner in the sixth minute of stoppage time gave the visitors their breakthrough, leaving the Al Hazem custodian frozen to the spot.

Mane scored Al Nassr’s first goal with a header. Pictured: Al Nassr

An surprising equaliser in the second half came from Basil Yousef Alsayyali’s close range effort for the home team. In the 76th minute, Al Hazem kept trying to put the ball in the net for Al Nassr, but the goal was rejected for offside.

Al Nassr was fortunate not only to avoid losing but also to score the game-winning goal. In the second minute of injury time, centre-back Jurien Gaari headed the ball back after goalkeeper Ibrahim Zaid came out, allowing Nawaf Boushal to finish into an empty net, sending Al Nassr into the Saudi King’s Cup round of 16. Al Nassr advanced to the tournament final the previous season, however they were defeated 4-5 by Al Hilal on penalties.

After defeating Al Hazem 2-1 in the Saudi King’s Cup last 16 and Al Ettifaq 3-0 in the Saudi Pro League’s fourth round, new coach Stefano Pioli got off to a great start. Since Ronaldo’s arrival in late 2022, Al Nassr has had four coaches: Rudi Garcia, Dinko Jelicic, Luis Castro, and Pioli.

Starting lineup:

Al Hazem: Zaid, Al Dakheel, Gaari, Al Aazmi, Al Yami, Al Rashid, Al-Dhuwayhi, Al Samtai, Al Sayyali, Al Habashi, Yoda

Al Nassr: Bento, Al Ghannam, Al Fatil, Laporte, Abdulrahman, Ali, Otavio, Angelo, Talisca, Mane, Ghareeb