Ronaldo WINS The GAME! | Al Nassr vs Al Taawoun 2-1 | Extended Highlights

Down to 10 early in the match, two down at the break. It had nightmare first defeat of the season written all over it. But back came the champion. Well, this is a repeat of the opening fixture from last season and Altam were beaten 5-0 at home by Al Nasser at the end of August last year. Al Nasser's lineup shows a couple of changes, one of them enforced with Bento suspended following his red card on Tuesday. It means a first appearance of the season for fit again. Now off Al-Aqidi in goal, Mohamed Simakan returns in defense after sitting out the last two. It means there's a breather on the bench for Inigo Martinez. Cristiano Ronaldo makes his second start of the season. Shao Felix has four goals. As with the hosts, Altaun also make a couple of changes with some assigning Zinedine Belay, an Algerian international, returning to the defense and Mohamed Alakel making his first start of the campaign on the right wing. Certainly got them playing his way. And Kostokova, you can see a different group at the World Cup this summer. Fit again and available and in the team in the absence of the suspended. Well, he looked like that throughout the whole. Here comes Sadio Mane. He was the star of the show on Tuesday night. In the end, that's a terrific looking ball, but a little bit close to the game. And there's a coach with plenty on his plate tonight. Bouchard looking lively, Koeman in possession. Lovely ball, Shao Felix with the flick. Angelo collects, Ronaldo's in the middle. Hasn't missed a minute so far this season. Ninety nine years of age, he's got all the experience. He reads the game very well. Good ball that from Mohamed Simakan and Ronaldo was chasing. They were watching him closely and Al Nasser will have a corner. First of the match. Yeah, he has. But what a record. He scored 115 goals in 109 appearances. How can you boo him for that? It was outstanding. And the ball just breaks loose and it takes a deflection off the top of the crossbar. And our town have the lead. Ten minutes played. And the champions are behind. What a start. Bassam Al-Huraiji. Now Afalikidi's first appearance of the season. And he's picking it out of the net ten minutes in. Well, it's certainly against the run of the plate early on. It's a bit scrappy. Hamdallah can't really get hold of the ball. It's a deflected shot from the edge of the box. It loops up and over the goalkeeper. There's nothing that he can do. Al-Huraiji in goal. It falls very, very kindly to Al-Huraiji. It's a simple task for him to tap it down to the onrushing goalkeeper. Double deflection up and over the goalkeeper. His positioning is good. There's nothing that the goalkeeper can do. He's so unfortunate. Just bobbles out of his grasp. Al-Huraiji's first on site. He gives the visitors the most unlikeliest of leads. It's that massive deflection of Samu Kosta that caused all the problem there. And a straighted figure down there on the touchline to get a chance to look again at the goal. The double deflection, the biggest one was off Samu Kosta. Nothing the goalkeeper Al-Huraiji can do about it. He goes full length after the initial shot. He gets up and he tries to react and credit to the goalkeeper. He almost gets a block on it. Al-Huraiji's shot finds the back of the net. He's unlucky, the goalkeeper there in that situation. There's not a lot he can do. He was back on his feet almost before he'd fallen over, wasn't he? Great reactions. Yeah, that's what they say when you're doing the goal. Push up. Los Angeles delivery, but way too much on that. Goes sailing over Ronaldo's head. They don't necessarily need the two defensive holding midfielders, but he can certainly adapt his game to play further up the field. Simakhan steps in just as Al-Burraoui looked as if he might be building up ahead of Steve. ...to the season. Here come Al-Town once more. It's Kosta, Ollie Watkins from Huston Villa in the Premier League. Here come Al-Town. Oh, it's a lovely turn there by Al-Burraoui. Comfortable enough, though, for Al-Hakidi. Speaking of top strikers, Hamdallah. I've got one here, Al-Town and Ronaldo, I think. This is Bouchal, very much a new era at Villa Park. It's Kingsley Coman sending it in and almost into the back of his own net there. Quick to take it and mix it up from the corner as Angelo sends it over. It was a better looking flight on that one. This is Sadio Mane, score of two goals earlier in the week. And it took a little deflection on the way through, so it will be a corner kick for Al-Nasr. Incidents there, best run of play for Al-Nasr in the game. Kingsley Coman had the ball on the right-hand side, Sadio Mane. Al-Bouchal, he's got Angelo on the near side. Yellow shirts gathering in and around the penalty area, into Kingsley Coman with the pullback! Oh, it just needed a touch. He's just caught in his heels a little bit at the far post. Cristiano Ronaldo goes through Mailson's legs. I don't think he expected that from Portuguese. As well, Coman, he just looks up and he fires it hard and low. Not really looking to pick anybody out, I think Cristiano Ronaldo. Mostly a rear-guard action at the moment for the visiting side, but maybe the opportunity to break here with Younes El Barraui. He's got Abdirazak Hamdala now in possession. Hamdala looks for an opening and... Did the counter-attack at one point, the two-on-two. He's experienced, he keeps himself onside, he holds it. It's not the area of the pitch that he wants the ball, but he makes it work, he gets into the 18-yard line. The sort of player that he can learn an awful lot from and develop a good understanding. It could be a fruitful partnership this season. There's a shot that was remaining in the first half. Here's the shot from the Liberia Inter up this time. Angelo into Ronaldo, back with the young Brazilian once more. Mane's been waiting in space on the far side, plenty to aim at in the middle. Mailson, Alnassa looking to build up the pressure late in the first half here. Ronaldo trying to find a little sighting on goal, but can't pick out a team-mate. That low with his head, this is the penalty that Cristiano Ronaldo wanted. He feels there was a little check, he'd already played the ball. Mouragi, his body checks him, stops him going into the pen. Back on his feet. And Angelo with it, at his feet. To the far post, Mane collects, denied by Mailson. All six foot six of him, Angelo finding himself on this right-hand side once again. He knows what he's going to do, he's going to drift onto his left foot. Misses everybody, it's a really good first touch from Sadio Mane. Hit hard, straight at the goalkeeper. Helps him answer, they're not really playing with much urgency at the moment, it's all very much one-paced. Crescencio-Somerville's score. Here comes Sadio Mane. That's some way wide. Somerville scoring for Al-Hilal, 4-1 they lead away to Al-Khalij. Sadio Mane. And still... Salim Al-Najdi away to Sadio Mane. It's 1-1 and Samu Kosta scores his second goal of the season. That is such a tidy finish from Samu Kosta, it really is. It's such a difficult technique from that type of distance as well. Sadio Mane sets him. It's a lovely connection with his left foot, and he just sweeps it into the bottom right-hand corner. Sadio Mane puts perfect pace on the pass, and he meets it, he knows he's got to hit it first time. It starts off outside the post and he just... Equalising goal towards the end of the half. Coming from Samu Kosta there, beautifully placed into the bottom corner of the net. His second goal since arriving in the Saudi Pro League during the summer, and very well taken indeed. Drawing Anj Kostakoglu's side level almost on the stroke of half-time at half-time, it's Al Nasser 1-1. On Tuesday, so he is on. Just evading his lunge at the far post. Angelo's delivery, and there's the familiar figure of Al-Namri trying to get on the end of it. Lovely play, brilliant silky skills from Xiao Felix trying to tee it up. Mohamed Simakan gets the deflection, and Cristiano Ronaldo flicks it home. Ronaldo takes the applause and the acclaim of the crowd. It was Simakan's shot and it was very much that sent it into the back of the net. Well he's not sure, he's looking around Cristiano Ronaldo to see if he's onside, and he certainly is onside. Defenders coming out there at the bottom of the screen, Petkov I think it is, plays him onside. It's just an instinctive finish from Cristiano Ronaldo. It's a good strike from Simakan, puts it goalwards. I think he could have left it Ronaldo, it was heading in anyway. But you tell him to leave that in front of goal, absolutely not a chance. And he's onside, the goal is going to stand. Goal number 900, we're seeing. Played onside by a defender on the near side, it might have been the goal scorer on the right back. I think it was, I do think it was, yeah. I think it was Al-Haraji maybe, or Petkov. But I think one of the defenders, they tracked the run in, and the Old Town players haven't seen it because it's on the blind side. A treating Old Town defender. And you see here at the top of the screen, I actually think it's El-Mahdiwi, number 18 there. It goes in with Joao Felix, and you keep your eye on the captain. Left-hand side of the screen, he's the one that plays Cristiano Ronaldo onside. Bottom right side of the screen this time, it is, it's the captain, El-Mahdiwi, number 18. He plays Ronaldo onside. Joao Femmesliga, the delivery's not right. This is the goal again, Simakan, it's a controlled finish. I do think it was heading towards the back of the net. He's not going to give up a free goal, is he? Two yards out and a tap-in. Yes, please, get me closer to that 1,000th finish. He didn't look sure, did he? Sadio Mane, into Joao Felix, rides the first challenge, support to the right, provided by Ronaldo, Oscar across. There's going to be a free kick there. He's clever, Cristiano Ronaldo. He knows that he's not got options right. In between defender and ball, he knows exactly what's coming from the... Felix predictably leaves it. It's Ronaldo. It's an easy header away back to... In this game, you couldn't argue if they want them to win this game by two or three goals. Now off Bouchal. Up against Moufarij and still going. This is brilliant from Bouchal, all that was missing. This is Matev Al Moufarij, sending it forward. Geoghegan now into Hamdallah. Just showed a little too much of that to Abdelallah Al Amri. He's had to feed on scraps tonight, Hamdallah. Excellent goal-scoring record in the Saudi Pro League. Sadio Mane, still Mane, bit of space here, chance to shoot for Angelo. Just a little bit out of reach for Costa. That looked quite hefty on Sadio Mane, there'll be a card for that. Out of the challenge. They got there first by a long, long way. Hamdan. Abdelallah Al Hamdan, who came off the bench the other night and really put himself about, made a nuisance of himself. Sadio Mane. Ronaldo's ahead of him. Mane's still in possession. Here comes Joao Felix. Diving in at the far post was Kingsley Coman. Coming on, is this the moment when Ronaldo has the opportunity to just rest his legs for the closing stages of the match? It'll be interesting to see what he does, Angelo Postacoglu, because with Al Hamdan coming on, you can't see where the change would come from elsewhere. Angelo, Costa, Postacoglu, Muriel Kovari fits into that. Angelo collecting for Al Nasser. Bit of space here for Joao Felix, he'll like that. This is Sadio Mane. Slamming the foot of the post. And still going, Mane. He's going to be penalised there. He was going for the ball, but... Took everybody by surprise there, Sadio Mane. Everybody thought he was going to look for Ronaldo or Felix in the middle. With a pullback, was unlucky to hit the near post. And it's Cristiano Ronaldo, whose name echoes around the stadium. Scorer of the goal that separates the two teams, who takes his leave. Amid great adulation, of course, from the home crowd. Ronaldo off, Abdullah Al Hamdan on. And Al-Khaibri's going to be on for Angelo as well. Two very much like-for-like substitutes. It's late in the game, the heat, the humidity. And Rangiposte, elongated pre-season, that the others had, he certainly didn't get. But as expected, he's on the score sheet once again. Ever nearer that 1,000th goal. A little bit of nervousness among some of the home crowd, I think. It's really been a test for Al-Khaibri for quite a long time in this game. The challenge was a sturdy one from Al-Amri. He gets there first, Al-Amri. Just gets caught as he plays the ball. Good defending. Good defending again. He loves it, doesn't he? Look at him. Decent night at the office so far, for Cristiano Ronaldo and Angelo. Belay, into the heart of midfield. Al-Talai losing the ball. Here's Joao Felix. Good save, Miles. Just opened up for him there, Felix, didn't it? Did it all himself. He won the ball back. He ran the ball at the heart. I think he made the right decision there, Joao Felix. The shot was on. Decent save from the goalkeeper. He'd have liked it wider of him. Brilliant skill, Joao Felix. Into Mane. He was toppling over as he tried the shot. Ronaldo Saluli, able to block. It was going wide. He is great to watch. I was going to say, I think he just slips, doesn't he? As he hits it, Sadio Mane. Joao Felix manages to get the ball to him. He strikes it just as he's going over. This is the earlier attempt from Joao Felix. When the dust settles, if it is to stay like this, for the Al-Talai manager, they do struggle in front of goal. There's the final whistle. It's 4-4 for Al-Nasr. And Cristiano Ronaldo's goal wins the match and secures the three points. It's been an excellent week.