Ronaldo has yet to break his goalscoring record.
In the first half, Ronaldo was on the pitch but failed to make an impact on Al Nassr's attack. Furthermore, the club was reduced to ten men when goalkeeper Bento Krepski was sent off in the 12th minute for a foul on Moussa Dembele.
Ronaldo was substituted in a shocking match as Al Nassr came from behind to beat Al Ettifaq 3-2 on August 26th.
Photo: Reuters
Coach Ange Postecoglou had to substitute midfielder Angelo Gabriel with reserve goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al Otaibi. Al Otaibi then breached Al Nassr's goal twice. Duda put Al Ettifaq ahead 1-0 in the 31st minute, and before the end of the first half, Alvaro Medran scored the second goal for the home team.
Trailing 2-0, in the second half coach Ange Postecoglou surprisingly substituted Ronaldo with Abdullah Al Khaibari in hopes of helping Al Nassr turn the tide. Without Ronaldo, Al Nassr played much better despite being down to 10 men. Striker Sadio Mane scored in the 53rd minute, but the score remained unchanged as the referee disallowed the goal.
Al Nassr's resurgence began in the 74th minute. Mane completed a pass from Joao Felix and reduced the deficit to 1-2. Al Nassr's equalizer, making it 2-2, was scored in the 77th minute by Abdulelah Al-Amri following a corner kick from Joao Felix.
At the end of the match, Mane scored the winning goal for Al Nassr in the 90+1 minute, securing a 3-2 victory. The goal was reviewed by the referee and VAR before it was confirmed that Mane was not offside before scoring.
Thanks to this victory, Al Nassr remains at the top of the Saudi Pro League standings with 9 points, 2 points ahead of Al Ittihad.
After the match, coach Ange Postecoglou explained the reason for substituting Ronaldo, saying: "We needed to win. The opposing defenders paid special attention to him, so I spoke to Ronaldo at halftime and explained my reasons. He always wants to help the team in any way he can. He is extremely professional, and I am very happy to have coached him."
Coach Ange Postecoglou also confirmed: "There is no injury problem at all. It was purely a tactical decision. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions for the good of the team, even if it means substituting a player who can change the course of the game at any moment. He understood that. That's his mindset. Now, we will focus on the next match."
By failing to score against Al Ettifaq, Ronaldo, who just scored for Al Nassr in his 25th season, now has 977 goals and is still close to his coveted 1,000-goal mark.