ADVERTISEMENT
Thanks!
Key moments
- 4:05 PM ETEnd of match
- 4:00 PM ET90'Goal · Al-Nassr 2-3
- 3:47 PM ET80'Goal by João Félix · 2-2
- 3:45 PM ET75'Goal · Al-Nassr 2-1
- 3:23 PM ET55'Yellow card
- 3:12 PM ET45'Second half starts
- 3:10 PM ETEnd of first half
- 3:02 PM ET45'Goal by Álvaro Medrán · 2-0
- 2:58 PM ET40'Yellow card
- 2:51 PM ET30'Goal · Al-Ettifaq 1-0
- 2:30 PM ET10'Red card
End of match
Bento was sent off in the first half, leaving Al-Nassr with one less player on the field. With that, Al-Ettifaq opened up a 2-0 lead with goals from Duda and Medrá. Then Mané decided the game, scoring two goals, in addition to one from Al-Amri, to seal Al-Nassr's comeback victory!
Goal for Al-Nassr
Change in Al-Ettifaq
Al-Hamdan received the pass up front to find Mané, who shot hard, with Al-Jawsh palming the ball away. Shortly afterwards, Al-Ettifaq made a change, with Oussa Dembélé leaving and Meshal Alaaeli entering.
Goal for Al-Nassr
Goal for Al-Nassr
Changes in both trams
Both teams made two substitutions at that moment. For Al-Ettifaq, Shammari and Tanfouri were replaced by Celina and Al-Ghannam. For Al-Nassr, Coman and Samú Costa were replaced by Al-Hamdan and Al-Naji.
Al-Otaibi again
Moussa Dembélé received the pass up front, shooting powerfully from outside the box, but sending the ball wide. Shortly after, Coman managed a strong long-range shot, but it was blocked by the defense. On the counter-attack, Medrán shot after entering the area, but Al-Otaibi parried it away!
Al-Otaibi
Coman received the pass in the box for a powerful shot, but Al-Jawsh palmed the ball away. On the counter-attack, Rayane Messi received a pass from Khateeb and shot hard as he entered the box, but Al-Otaibi made a save in the right corner!
Goal disallowed and yellow card
Iñigo Martínez, on the pass in front, hit hard, hitting the crossbar! On the rebound João Félix managed to send the ball into the back of the goal on the rebound, but with the foul made on Al-Jawsh, receiving a yellow card for the move, in addition to having the goal disallowed.
Changes in both teams
Both teams made substitutions at halftime. For Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo was replaced by Al-Khaibari. For Al-Ettifaq, Al-Olayan was replaced by Madu. Despite the halftime substitution, Al-Ettifaq made another change, bringing on Larsson for Gluscevic.
Second half starts
The players returned to the field and the ball rolled for the second half of the match between Al-Ettifaq and Al-Nassr, with all the plays and emotions here on VAVEL, in the third round of the Saudi Pro League, at the start of the 2026-27 season!
End of first half
And we're heading to halftime after a very exciting first half! Al-Nassr were reduced to ten men after Bento's expulsion, allowing Al-Ettifaq to dominate the game and, with two long-range shots, extend their lead to 2-0 with goals from Medrán and Duda.
Goal for Al-Ettifaq
Yellow card
Duda, at the edge of the area, tried a long-range shot, but it was saved. On the counter-attack, Coman also shot from distance, but wide. And Dembélé received a yellow card for a hard foul on Samú Costa.
Al-Jawsh
Coman got the pass in front, where he found Cristiano Ronaldo, who shot hard, but sending the ball into the hands of Al-Jawsh, spreading the ball for a corner, passed into the area for the defense to clear. In the next play, Mané found João Félix, who shot hard into the middle of the goal, into the hands of Al-Jawsh.
Goal for Al-Ettifaq
Taking advantage of a mistake made by Al-Nassr's defense, Ondrej Duda had the ball at the edge of the area, charged and hit hard from distance, sending the ball into the right corner, where Al-Otaibi still spread the ball, but without taking it away from the goal!
Cooling break
We are now in a slower period of play. Al-Nassr is starting to tighten up defensively, avoiding major threats, while Al-Ettifaq is managing to maintain its presence in the attacking half. Then comes the hydration break, with play resuming immediately afterward.
Overview of the game
With one more player on the field than their opponent, Al-Ettifaq begins to maintain possession in the attacking half, exchanging passes and controlling the game's actions, trying to dominate the match. Al-Nassr is still trying to reorganize on the field.
Al-Nassr changes
Al-Nassr was forced to make a change after the red card, with Angelo leaving and Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi entering. In the resulting free kick, Medrán sent the ball over the goal, wide of the goal, missing the chance to open the scoring.
Red card
Bento
Cristiano Ronaldo received a through ball and shot from outside the box, but sent the ball over the goal. In quick response, Matija Gluscevic also shot from distance, with Bento making a save to deny Al-Nassr!
Here we go
The players took to the pitch and the ball rolled for the Al-Ettifaq vs. Al-Nassr duel, in the first 45 minutes of the third round of the 2026-27 Saudi Pro League, with all the action and excitement of the match here on VAVEL!
Retrospect - part 3
Finally, in those 56 matches, Al-Nassr scored 80 goals, with an impressive average of 1.43 goals per game, while Al-Ettifaq scored 65 goals in the matchup, with a good average of 1.16 goals per game. Can we expect a high-scoring match?
Retrospect - part 2
Al-Ettifaq hosted Al-Nassr 27 times, curiously all in the Saudi Pro League, where the two matches that did not take place in the national championship were played in the Saudi King's Cup, at Al-Nassr's home ground. At home, Al-Ettifaq won seven times, lost nine, and drew 11.
Retrospect - part 1
There have been 56 matches in history between the two teams, with 24 wins for Al-Nassr, 14 for Al-Ettifaq, and 18 draws. In the Saudi Pro League, there have been 54 matches, with 14 wins for Ettifaq, 22 for Nassr, and 18 draws.
Next matches
After today's game, AL-Ettifaq returns to the field on Saturday (29), at 2 pm, when they host Al-Draih. Al-Nassr plays a day earlier, taking to the field at the same time on Friday (28), when they host Al-Taawon. Both games are for the fourth round of the competition!
Matchday 3 - part 2
At the same time as the match later today, we will have Al-Shabab facing Al-Riyadh. Tomorrow the round continues with two more games, where Al-Faisaly faces Al-Fateh at 12:00 PM and Al-Draih plays against Al-Kholood at 2:00 PM.
Matchday 3 - part 1
The third round of the Saudi Pro League began yesterday, with Al-Quadisiya winning 2-0 away against Neom and Al-Ittihad beating Al-Hazm 3-2. Currently underway, Abha is drawing 1-1 with Al-Khaleej and Al-Taawon is drawing 0-0 with Al-Feiha.
Al-Nassr's bench
For the game, Ange Postecoglu had the following names available during the match against Al-Ettifaq: Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi, Nader Al-Sharari, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Ayman Yahya, Ali Al-Hassan, Sami Al Naji, Saad Haqawi and Abdullah Al-Hamdan.
Al-Ettifaq's bench
For the game, Arthur Papas had the following names available during the match against Al-Nassr: Abdulbasit Hawsawi, Abdullah Madu, Meshal Ali Khayrallah, Meshal Alaaeli, Jordan Larsson, Bersant Celina, Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, Faris Al-Ghamdi and Khalid Al-Ghannam.
Al-Nassr lined-up!
With a 4-4-2 formation, Al-Nassr's starting lineup for the Saudi Pro League match against Al-Etiffaq is: Bento, Boushal, Iñigo Martínez, Al-Amri and Alnajdi; Coman, Samuel Costa, Ângelo and Mané; João Félix and Cristiano Ronaldo.
And that's all for now! Thank you so much for watching another Saudi Pro League match, with all the action and excitement here on VAVEL! Stay tuned for updates and upcoming games. Good afternoon and see you next time!