Al-Nassr lost 2-1 against Al-Ittihad in a thrilling match at King Abdullah Sports City, despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s unwavering brilliance, which earned him the Man of the Match award for one more time. Ronaldo quickly equalised in the 57th minute after Karim Benzema started the score for Al-Ittihad. But with Steven Bergwijn scoring a last-minute victory for the home side, the other players battled to keep the momentum. Ronaldo’s class was outstanding, but once more he was disappointed with his squad’s overall performance.

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s incredible effort goes vane after Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad snatch the win in the Saudi Pro League clash

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal wasn’t enough as Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Nassr 2-1 to record a ninth successive win and move five points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League on Friday.

Al-Nassr was fourth, 11 points behind the leader as the league takes a month’s break.

Benzema opened the scoring in the 55th minute, shooting from inside the area after he was picked out by a perfect Muhannad Al-Shanqiti cross from the right.

The home fans in Jeddah were still celebrating when Ronaldo equalized less than two minutes later. The five-time Ballon D’Or winner shot past Predrag Rajkovic from close range to join Benzema on 10 league goals and deny the Serbian goalkeeper a sixth consecutive clean sheet.

Sadio Mane missed his second goal-scoring opportunity for Al-Nassr and the team was punished in injury time.

Steven Bergwijn, the Dutch international signed in September from Ajax, curled a shot into the far corner from the edge of the area to win the game for Al-Ittihad and coach Laurent Blanc.

Al-Qadsia moved above Al-Nassr into third after winning at Al-Kholood 3-0. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half strike was sandwiched by two goals from Mexico’s Julian Quinones.

Defending champion Al-Hilal will reduce Ittihad’s lead to two points if it defeats Al-Raed on Saturday.

(AP)