Al-Nassr 2-0 Al-Khaleej: Tale of two penalties for Ronaldo
Jhon Duran and Cristiano Ronaldo, who had earlier hit the post from the penalty spot, scored as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 2-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored one penalty and missed another as Al-Nassr maintained their hopes of a third-placed finish in the Saudi Pro League, beating Al-Khaleej 2-0.
Following Al Qadsiah's 3-1 victory over Al-Orobah on Tuesday, Al-Nassr knew only a win would keep them in the race for third going into the final matchday.
If Al-Nassr are to play in the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, they must finish third and hope Al-Qadsiah lose the King's Cup final to Al-Ittihad on May 30.
They accomplished part one of their mission on Wednesday, though they needed 75 minutes to make the breakthrough.
Jhon Duran – who had earlier dragged a shot to the left of a gaping goal – got across his man to glance Sadio Mane's inswinging cross into the bottom-right corner.
That came after Ronaldo missed the first of his two penalties, rolling his 65th-minute kick against the base of the post following Ali Abdulraouf's foul on Sultan Al Ghannam.
The mid-table visitors pushed for an equaliser but their hopes were dashed when goalkeeper Raed Ozaybi clattered Ronaldo in the box in the 96th minute, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner dusting himself down to slot into the same corner he had narrowly missed earlier on.
Al-Nassr visit Al Fateh for their final game of the campaign, needing to better Al-Qadsiah's result at second-placed Al-Hilal.
Al-Ahli, who have already sealed AFC Champions League Elite qualification as the new holders, could also finish third if they win their final two matches and results go their way.
Data debrief: Ronaldo atones for rare miss
After making Al-Nassr's points safe with his stoppage-time penalty, Ronaldo held up his hands to apologise for his earlier miss.
Al-Nassr's first penalty was the first Ronaldo had missed since arriving in the Saudi Pro League midway through the 2022-23 campaign. He has scored with 21 of his 22 attempts in the competition.
Those two spot-kicks ensured Ronaldo – who attempted a huge nine shots – accounted for 2.26 of Al-Nassr's total of 2.84 expected goals (xG).
