Saudi Pro League 2025-26: Ronaldo and Al Nassr’s title race gets a blow after defeat by Al Qadisiya

Riyadh, January 09: Cristiano Ronaldo’s team Al Nassr has suffered a big setback in the title race in the Saudi Pro League 2025-26. In the match played on Thursday, Al Nassr suffered a 1-2 defeat against Al Qadisiya. This is Al Nassr’s second consecutive league defeat. After this defeat, Al Nassr remains in second place in the points table with 31 points and four points behind the top Al Hilal. Both teams will now face each other in the Riyadh derby to be held on Monday. Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez scored goals for Al Qadisiya, while the only goal for Al Nassr was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo from a penalty. At the beginning of the match, Al Nassr played an aggressive game at the home ground Al Awal Park, but Al Qadisiya, playing under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers, created a strong defensive structure. Kept. In the 30th minute, Quinones made a brilliant shot on the half-volley, but Al Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Alakidi made an excellent save. In the final moments of the first half, Kingsley Coman had a golden opportunity to take the lead, but his close range shot from Angelo Gabriel’s cross missed the target. Al Nassr’s big mistake in the sixth minute of the second half changed the course of the match. Goalkeeper Alakidi missed his attempt to clear the ball and the ball hit Quinones and landed in front of him. Quinones made no mistake in front of an open goal and gave Al Qadisiya the lead. After scoring the first goal, Al Qadisiya suffered a blow when its first choice goalkeeper Koen Castiles was injured and was forced out of the field. However, despite this, the team’s confidence did not diminish. Al Qadisiya doubled its lead in the 66th minute. Quinones won the ball from the right flank and passed to Retegui. Retegui’s first shot was saved, but on the rebound, Nandez fired a powerful shot into the roof of the net. Al Nassr got a chance to make a comeback in the 80th minute of the match, when after a VAR review, a penalty was given on Jihad Thakri’s handball. This decision was strongly protested by the players of Al Qadisiya, in which Nandez was also shown a yellow card for expressing his disagreement. On the penalty, Cristiano Ronaldo in his characteristic style delivered the ball to the bottom left corner to make the score 1-2. At the end of the second half, 11 minutes of extra time was added, which gave Al Nassr hope of an equaliser, but Al Qadisiya’s strong defense line did not give any chance and the team won the important three points. For.