RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo drew a blank but some of his clinical finishing seems to be rubbing off on teammates, as Al-Nassr defeated Abha 3-1 on Tuesday to stroll into the semi-finals of the King’s Cup.
So comfortable was the victory for the Riyadh side that toward the end coach Rudi Garcia had the luxury of being able to substitute the 38-year-old, five-time Ballon D’or winner, who had been booked just before the break.
The fact that Garcia was able to replace the Portuguese star with the league’s top scorer, Anderson Talisca, recently recovered from injury, was evidence that Al-Nassr seem more than capable of continuing to challenge on two fronts.
In addition to their cup run, they sit in second spot in the league just a point behind Al-Ittihad, and will return to that campaign on Saturday when they again face Abha.
The southwesterners, meanwhile, who have lost four of their last five in the league, will know not to make the same mistakes they did on Tuesday, when they found themselves behind inside 10 seconds and were always playing catch-up.
Just as Bournemouth scored straight from the kick-off in their match against Arsenal this month, so did Al-Nassr as Sultan Al-Ghannam found Sami Al-Najei in the area, who put his side ahead. Suddenly, Abha had a mountain to climb.
The game seemed almost done and dusted just 20 minutes later when Abdullah Al-Khaibari fired home after a cross from Ghislain Konan, volleying a low, left-footed shot from just inside the area.
Ronaldo also caused problems for the visitors as he continued to drive his team forward, though he was unable to get a clear sight of goal himself. He was shown a yellow card after the referee blew for half time for picking up the ball and drop-kicking it high into the air in frustration, as he had been about to break forward in another attack.
Just four minutes after the restart, it was 3-0 and Al-Nassr could safely start looking forward to their last-four cup clash. Mohammed Maran fired home at the far post after Devis Epassy failed to deal with a cross.
To Abha’s credit, they never gave up and were rewarded with a consolation goal midway through the second half. Substitute Abdulfattah Adam pounced from close range after goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi could only parry a shot from Saad Al-Salouli.
Ronaldo had a half-chance with a header with 10 minutes remaining but nodded a crossed ball over the bar. It was not to be the 38-year-old’s day in front of goal but he still caused plenty of problems for Abha as Al-Nassr enjoyed a comfortable early evening workout in Riyadh.
There will be tougher tests to come in this competition but Al-Nassr are now within sight not only of the King’s Cup trophy but a place in Asian Champions League. They would love to get there, of course, by winning the league, and another result like this one against the same opposition on Saturday would be another good step toward that. Ronaldo, for one, certainly looks like he will be ready for it.
