Agency, Jan 13: Al Nassr’s poor run of form continued in the Saudi Pro League as they suffered their third straight defeat, losing 3–1 to rivals Al Hilal on Monday night.
The match, played at the Kingdom Arena, saw goals from Salem Al-Dawsari, Mohammed Kanno, and Rúben Neves seal a convincing victory for Al Hilal. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the lone goal for Al Nassr, but his effort was not enough to prevent another setback for his side.
Al Nassr made a strong start and took the lead in the 42nd minute when Ronaldo found the back of the net, giving his team an early advantage. However, they failed to maintain their momentum in the second half.
Al Hilal equalized in the 57th minute through Salem Al-Dawsari. Just three minutes later, Al Nassr’s problems deepened when Nawaf Al-Aqidi was shown a red card, reducing the team to ten men. Taking advantage of the numerical superiority, Mohammed Kanno scored in the 81st minute to put Al Hilal ahead 2–1.
In the second minute of injury time, Rúben Neves added a third goal to secure a comfortable 3–1 win for Al Hilal.
With this victory, Al Hilal strengthened their position at the top of the table with 38 points from 14 matches. Al Nassr, despite the loss, remain second with 31 points from the same number of games.
