Al Nassr vs Al Ettifaq: Al Nassr on Tuesday secured a gritty 1-0 victory over Steven Gerrard coached Al Ettifaq to go through to the quarter finals of the Kings Cup of Champions. A late extra time goal from Senegalese striker Sadio Mane secured the tie for the Riyadh-based side. Both Al Nassr and Al Ettifaq picked up a red card each at different stages in a closely contested game.
The game started scrappily, with Al Nassr controlling more of the possession. Al Ettifaq threatened with Demarai Gray and co but their attacks did not bother the Al Nassr defenders. Laporte and co on their part were allowed to play and move the ball forward to the midfielders without any high press by Henderson and others.
The game sparked to life in the stoppage time of first half. Al Nassr’s Brazilian striker Anderson Talisca got ahead of an Al Ettifaq defender inside the box and tapped the ball past Paulo Victor. The Brazilian celebrated in joy until VAR intervened. The goal was crossed off as Talisca was deemed offside.
Seven minutes later, the VAR intervened again, this time spotting a foul. The monitor showed that Talisca had deliberately elbowed an Al Ettifaq player in the midfield. The referee produced a straight red card.
Al Nassr fought valiantly with 10 men in the second half. They defended well, kept themselves organised and even spurned some attacks of their own. They were rewarded when Al Ettifaq midfielder Ali Abdullah Hazzazi was shown a red card in the 89th minute of the game.
Al Nassr were on the front foot then onwards. The 90 minutes ended without any goals as the game moved into extra time. Al Nassr finally broke the deadlock in the 107th minute. Sadio Mane’s left footed shot from a Ayman Yahya cross rippled the Al Ettifaq goal. Ronaldo and his teammates held on to their lead from there to advance to the quarter finals.
First XI
Al Ettifaq XI – Victor; Yousef, Tisserand, Hendry, Sharmani; Hazazi, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Kuwaykibi, Ghamdi, Gray
Al Nassr XI – Nawaf; Boushal, Alamri, Laporte, Telles; Fofana, Brozovic, Otavio, Talisca, Mane; Ronaldo
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