Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix led Al-Nassr to a 2-1 victory over Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Super Cup semi-finals despite a red card to Sadio Mane.
Al-Nassr into Saudi Super Cup finalNew signing Joao Felix bags winnerSadio Mane sent off in first halfFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportTELL ME MORE
An end-to-end first half brought plenty of drama, starting in the opening minutes when Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento presented Karim Benzema with a glorious opportunity. The stopper inexplicably passed the ball straight to the Frenchman on the edge of the penalty area and will have been relieved to see him drag a low shot wide of the post.
The action then switched to the other end and saw Al-Nassr take the lead through Mane. A cross from Marcelo Brozovic found the Senegal star with time and space in the box, and his turn and shot somehow managed to beat goalkeeper Hamed Al-Shanqiti, who will feel he should have done better after getting a hand to the ball.
Yet Al-Nassr's lead lasted just six minutes as Al-Ittihad swiftly hit back through Steven Bergwijn. A nicely worked move down the left flank culminated with the ball being cut back to Bergwijn to fire a low shot past Bento to make it 1-1.
Jorge Jesus's side then suffered more misery as Mane was sent off to leave Al-Nassr down to 10 men. The Senegal star was handed his marching orders on 25 minutes after challenging for the ball in the penalty area and stupidly stamping on Al-Shanqiti.
Despite being a man down, Al-Nassr went ahead on the hour when Ronaldo and Joao Felix combined. Al-Nassr's captain beat the offside trap after being sent through on goal and showed his unselfish side by rolling the ball across goal for Felix to tap into an empty net.
Felix then thought he'd sealed the game for Nassr after drilling home his second minutes later, but the goal was ruled out after Ronaldo was penalised for a trip on Fabinho.
Yet Al-Nassr still managed to comfortably hold on for an important win, putting Ronaldo one step closer to winning his first title with the Saudi Pro League side.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE MVP
Al-Nassr looked doomed after going down to 10 men with only 25 minutes on the clock but had summer signing Felix to thank for the win. The Portugal international had the simple task of tapping home the winner and was a little unfortunate to see another goal ruled out shortly afterwards. Felix has had a tough few seasons but was a handful here and is enjoying a bright start to life with the Saudi Pro League side.
Getty Images SportTHE BIG LOSER
Mane went from hero to villain for Al-Nassr in an action-packed first half. The Senegal star opened the scoring in the match but was handed his marching orders just 15 minutes later. The Al-Nassr star contested the decision but clearly left his foot in on goalkeeper Al-Shanqiti and can have few complaints about the decision, which left his team a man down with plenty of football still to play.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Al-Nassr now go on to face either Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Ahli in the Saudi Super Cup final. The second semi takes place on Wednesday in Hong Kong.