Al-Ittihad 0-2 Al-Nassr: Mane and Ronaldo send the visitors top
Al-Nassr have landed an early blow in the Saudi Pro League title race, with Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo securing an important win.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on target as Al-Nassr beat Al-Ittihad 2-0 in the blockbuster battle between the Saudi Pro League's top two.
Sadio Mane opened the scoring for Jorge Jesus' side, who leapfrogged their opponents to the table's summit with a hard-earned victory at Al Inma Bank Stadium at King Abdullah Sport City.
Just nine minutes had elapsed when the visitors took the lead in spectacular fashion, with Kingsley Coman's cross superbly volleyed in by Mane.
Bento made a smart save to deny Steven Bergwijn from a tight angle, before Al-Nassr doubled their lead in the 34th minute. Mane turned provider with a dinked cross into the six-yard box, where Ronaldo tucked away with his head.
Ronaldo should have had his second goal just before the hour mark, but with Predrag Rajkovic out of goal and just covering defenders to beat, he could only fire over the crossbar.
Moussa Diaby stung Bento's palms from a tight angle at the other end, but that was as close as the hosts came to getting back into the game, as they dropped their first points of the season.
Data Debrief: Six in six for Ronaldo
Al-Nassr have won each of their opening four matches in a Saudi Pro League season for the third time. Coincidentally, they went on to win the title in each of the two previous campaigns in 2014-15 and 2018-19.
Ronaldo has now scored six goals in as many games against Al-Ittihad, his strikes coming from just 12 shots on target.
As for the hosts, they saw their nine-match winning streak in the league brought to an end, with their opponents landing an early blow in the title race.
