Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo had been heading in the right direction as Al-Nassr struck an early blow within the Saudi Professional League title race with a deserved 2-0 win at Al-Ittihad.
Defending champions Al-Ittihad beat Al-Nassr residence and away final season and obtained the higher of Al-Nassr within the Saudi Tremendous Cup remaining.
Karim Benzema returned to the Al-Ittihad facet after lacking three matches because of damage, however he couldn’t encourage the hosts to victory in Jeddah.
As a substitute it was former Actual Madrid team-mate Ronaldo was left celebrating after he adopted up Mane’s beautiful ninth-minute opener with a Thirty fifth-minute header to ship Al-Nassr high of the desk.
Al-Ittihad v Al-Nassr
Amid a raucous environment, the sport started in frantic style, with either side failing to take advantage of promising openings.
However Mane took his first clear-cut probability in spectacular style, sustaining his composure to lash residence an outstanding volley from Kingsley Coman’s right-wing cross.
Al-Nassr continued within the ascendancy after the opener, Ronaldo losing a gilt-edged probability when he headed large from shut vary earlier than then breaking free down the left, solely to fireplace into the side-netting.
Paulo Bento was examined by Steven Bergwijn after an Al-Ittihad break, however the guests continued to create the higher alternatives, Joao Felix blazing over from point-blank vary from Pascal Simikan’s flick-on.
However Ronaldo made no mistake when Mane lifted a wonderfully weighted left-wing cross into the field, the Portugal talisman making no mistake with a strong header past a helpless Predrag Rajkovic.
Mane was nearly the supplier for a 3rd, however Felix was once more the supplier of a obvious miss after extra good work from his Senegalese team-mate.
Issues obtained worse for Al-Ittihad in first-half stoppage time, with midfielder Houssem Aouar pressured off by way of damage.
Ronaldo was denied by Rajkovic shortly after the second-half restart as Al-Nassr sought to place the sport to mattress, with Coman then blazing over on the far submit earlier than Ronaldo inexplicably missed the goal with an open purpose at his mercy.
But Al-Ittihad struggled to punish that profligacy, with Benzema chopping a peripheral determine till he was brilliantly thwarted by Bento following very good work on the flip from the previous France striker.
And there was to be no means by way of for the hosts, who comfortably noticed out a victory that would and doubtless ought to have been extra emphatic.
