Al Nassr lost without Ronaldo
* Score: Robin Quaison 47', Moussa Dembele 53' - Sadio Mane 4'
Two days after the injury in the Arab Champions Cup final, Cristiano Ronaldo was absent. Al Nassr also cannot use Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana, Alex Telles and Talisca. Ronaldo's team can only launch two foreign players, striker Sadio Mane and left-back Konan.
It was Mane who opened the scoring for Al Nassr in the fourth minute. After the right wing cross, the former Liverpool star cushioned the ball close to the goal and netted Al Ettifaq.
On the side of Al Ettifaq, coach Gerrard gave Jordan Henderson and Moussa Dembele, a former Lyon star, started from the beginning. However, they could not take the initiative against the new champion of the Arab Champions Cup. In the first half, the home team had almost no chance to score against the Al Nassr defense.
But the game suddenly turned from the beginning of the second half. In the 47th minute, after the mistake to slip the ball of goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Robin Quaison shot from close range to equalize for Al Ettifaq. Six minutes later, Nawaf Al-Aqidi continued to make a mistake with a cross that missed the left wing. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Moussa Dembele cushioned the ball into the empty goal to make it 2-1 for the home team.
The remaining minutes, Al Nassr dominated. However, the away team lacked luck to equalize. The ball twice touched the column and the bar of Al Ettifaq after the shots of Al Nassr players. At the end of the game, the referee did not penalize the situation where a home player touched the ball in the penalty area.
While Al Nassr lost in the opening round, the competitors all won. Defending champion Al Ittihad won 3-0 right at Al Raed's field. Al Hilal, who had just lost to Al Nassr in the Arab Champions Cup final, beat Abha 3-1 with Malcom's hat-trick. Earlier, rookie Al Ahli beat Al Hazm with a hat-trick of Roberto Firmino.
The 2-1 victory over Al Nassr was an unexpected result for Al Ettifaq. Last season, Ronaldo's team finished second in the Saudi Pro League and 30 points ahead of Al Ettifaq.
