Ronaldo and Al Nassr’s title race suffered a blow after defeat by Al Qadisiya:

Riyadh, 09 January: 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 the teams will now face each other in the Riyadh derby to be held on Monday.

Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez scored for Al Qadisiya, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored the only goal for Al Nassr from a penalty.

At the beginning of the match, at home ground Al Awal Park, Al Nassr showed aggressive play, but Al Qadisiya, playing under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers, maintained a strong defensive structure. In the 30th minute, Quinones fired a brilliant shot on the half-volley, but Al Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Alakidi made a brilliant save.

Kingsley Coman had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the final moments of the first half, but his close-range shot from Angelo Gabriel’s cross missed the target.

A big mistake by Al Nassr 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 their first choice goalkeeper Koen Castilles was forced off the field with an injury. However, despite this the team’s confidence did not diminish.

Al Qadisiya doubled their 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 awarded to Jihad Thakri’s handball. The decision was met with strong protest from Al Qadisiya players, with Nandez even being shown a yellow card for dissenting.

On the penalty, Cristiano Ronaldo in his special style made the score 1-2 by sending the ball into the lower left corner.

11 minutes of extra time were added at the end of the second half, giving Al Nassr hope of an equaliser, but Al Qadisiya’s strong defense did not give any chance and the team took the vital three points.