Cristiano Ronaldo fought through a stomach illness to lead Al Nassr to a critical 1-0 victory over Al Ettifaq at Al Awwal Park on Wednesday evening, pushing the Riyadh club to eight points clear at the top of the Roshn Saudi League with just five rounds of fixtures remaining.<\/p>\n
The decisive moment came in the 31st minute when Ronaldo’s long-range effort was parried by Al Ettifaq goalkeeper Marek Rodak, with summer signing Kingsley Coman racing onto the rebound to slot home his team’s record-extending 15th league win of the season. The goal, while unspectacular in its construction, was a reflection of the relentless pressure Al Nassr maintained throughout a pulsating night in the Saudi capital.<\/p>\n
Head coach Jorge Jesus confirmed after the match that Ronaldo had been far from his best physically, having dealt with stomach pains and general fatigue in the build-up to kick-off. Jesus revealed he had considered leaving his captain on the bench entirely, but ultimately opted to start him \u2014 and the 41-year-old repaid that faith with a performance of sheer determination even if the final goal eluded him on the night.<\/p>\n
“I was thinking of not including him; he wasn’t in good shape,” Jesus said. “He was suffering from stomach pains and a general feeling of fatigue and, when I substituted him, he went straight to the dressing room and threw up.”<\/p>\n
Ronaldo himself was substituted in the final minute of normal time, but not before hitting the post and seeing another effort cleared brilliantly off the line by Jack Hendry \u2014 who was subsequently sent off in added time for a foul on Joao Felix. Posting on social media afterwards, Ronaldo kept his message brief but upbeat: “Three more points. Great energy in the stands.”<\/p>\n
Al Nassr, chasing their first league title since the 2018-19 season, now hold an eight-point advantage over second-placed Al Hilal, although the Jeddah sides \u2014 Al Hilal and Al Ahli, the current Asian Champions League holders \u2014 both have a game in hand after contesting the AFC Champions League Elite this week. Al Ahli sit third, ten points back.<\/p>\n
Three of Al Nassr’s final five fixtures come against teams currently in the top four: a home match against Al Ahli, a home encounter with Al Hilal, and a trip to fourth-placed Al Qadsiah. The title race is far from sealed, but the momentum sits firmly with Jesus’s side after a night when the entire stadium, in Jesus’s own words, offered “exceptional and wonderful atmosphere.”<\/p>\n
“The players have started to feel that we are approaching the goal,” he said after dancing a jig in front of the fans at the final whistle. “And the fans have also begun to believe that we are close to achieving it.”<\/p>\n
In the scorer charts, Ronaldo’s 24 league goals leave him three behind Ivan Toney of Al Ahli, who leads the race for the golden boot, with Al Qadsiah’s Julian Quinones placed second. Whether the Portuguese legend can close that gap \u2014 and secure the RSL title to go with it \u2014 over the final five matchdays will make for compelling viewing across the Kingdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cristiano Ronaldo fought through a stomach illness to lead Al Nassr to a critical 1-0 victory over Al Ettifaq at Al Awwal Park on Wednesday evening, pushing the Riyadh club to eight points clear at the top of the Roshn Saudi League with just five rounds of fixtures remaining. The decisive moment came in the 31st minute when Ronaldo’s long-range effort was parried by Al Ettifaq goalkeeper Marek Rodak, with summer signing Kingsley Coman racing onto the rebound to slot home his team’s record-extending 15th league win of the season. The goal, while unspectacular in its construction, was a reflection<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Ronaldo Plays Through Illness","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Kingsley Coman's 31st-minute winner gave Al Nassr a 1-0 victory over Al Ettifaq, sending the Riyadh club eight points clear in the 2025-26","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n