Cristiano Ronaldo strikes again to keep Al-Nassr in the title race – Arab News

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RIYADH: For the first time since he arrived in Saudi Arabia in January, Cristiano Ronaldo and his Al-Nassr teammates faced a must-win situation on Friday. And when the pressure was on, he, and they, delivered a 4-0 victory over Al-Raed at Mrsool Park.
The result means the Yellows are once again within three points of Saudi Pro League-leaders Al-Ittihad, albeit having played one game more, and still in the running for a 10th league title.
It might not have been a vintage performance from Al-Nassr but, after a goalless draw at Al-Fayha and a 2-0 defeat against Al-Hilal in their previous two league games (as well as a shock King’s Cup semi-final exit at the hands of Al-Wehda on Monday), it was nevertheless a welcome return to winning ways.
A third-successive failure to win would have dealt a major, possibly fatal, blow to their championship hopes. On Thursday, Al-Ittihad had defeated third-placed Al-Shabab, thanks to a late, late penalty, to go six points clear. Everyone was very aware that if Al-Nassr failed to match that result the following day, the Roshn Saudi League trophy would take a big step closer to Jeddah.
In the end, however, it was a comfortable victory for the home side. And although Al-Ittihad is still three points ahead, and has six games left to play compared with Al-Nassr’s five, there is plenty to play for.
Top scorer Anderson Talisca was forced to watch the game from the stands due to suspension. But if their were any nerves because of this, Ronaldo helped to settle them after just four minutes with the kind of goal that fans of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Juventus know very well.
When Al-Raed failed to clear their lines, the ball fell to Sultan Al-Ghannam on the right side of the area and the full-back chipped a beautiful cross toward the far post, where five-time Ballon D’Or winner Ronaldo was waiting. He climbed high and sent the perfect header down, past the diving Silviu Lung and into the net for league goal number 12 since his debut in January.
The crowd went wild and almost did so again soon after, when Ayman Yahya’s shot drifted just wide of the right-hand post.
If the home fans expected that this bright start would signal the start of a crushing victory they were soon disappointed, however. Al-Raed, sitting relatively safely in the upper reaches of the bottom half of the league table, worked hard to limit the supply to the opposition’s star-studded front line.
Just before the break, Ronaldo was set free in the area, only to be forced wide by Lung, and though he managed to pull the ball back, Ali Al-Hassan, who might have been in an offside position, blasted it over. This came just moments after teammate Luiz Gustavo’s shot was saved by the Romanian goalkeeper.
The score remained 1-0 at the break but Al-Raed came very close to an equalizer seconds after the restart when Moroccan forward Karim El-Berkaoui headed a ball delivered from a free-kick just inches over the bar from close range.
In the 55th minute, Al-Nassr made their visitors pay for that miss. Ronaldo headed a Gustavo cross back across goal and Yahya fed the ball to Abdulrahman Ghareeb, who cut inside on the edge of the six-yard box and fired the ball into the back of the net.
While Al-Raed had managed to trouble goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi on occasion, there was no coming back from that and the only real question was whether Al-Nassr could add to their tally. Ronaldo came close with 15 minutes remaining but the 38-year-old’s shot from close range was blocked.
The hosts finally made it 3-0 with just seconds remaining in regulation time, thanks to great work from two substitutes, as Jaloliddin Masharipov pulled the ball back for Mohammed Maran to score from close range.
There was still time after that for Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem to curl a beautiful shot from outside the area into the top corner, ending a perfect evening.
Now Al-Nassr will hope that sixth-place Al-Taawoun, a team who are enduring a poor run of form but have shown this season they are capable of beating the big boys, can do them a favor against Al-Ittihad on Wednesday.
In the meantime, Ronaldo and his teammates did their jobs and reminded their rivals that they are still fighting hard for the title.
 
RIYADH: Al-Hilal sent a message to the rest of Saudi Arabia with the biggest-ever win in the Roshn Saudi League, a 9-0 thrashing of Al-Hazm that restored their four-point lead over Al-Nassr in second. They meet next Friday, and mouths are already starting to water.
It all means that Al-Hilal are still unbeaten in the league after 14 games and have won 12 and drawn just two. It was a devastating demonstration of firepower at the home of the bottom club with goals spread throughout six players with Malcom managing a hat-trick.
It was no surprise that the first fell to Aleksandar Mitrovic after 14 minutes, and it was a real striker’s goal. Mohammed Al-Breik swung in an inviting cross from deep, and it cleared the defense and looked to be heading into the arms of goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen, but Mitrovic stretched out a leg to volley home from close range. It was the start of what was going to be a very long afternoon for the hosts.
Mohamed Kanno added a second just after the half-hour. There seemed to be little danger when the midfielder picked up possession 30 meters from goal but he let fly with a shot that flew into the top corner to extend Al-Hilal’s lead. Mohammed Al-Qahtani made it three two minutes before the break, reacting quickly to fire home the rebound after Mitrovic’s low shot had been palmed away by the Tunisian goalkeeper who was having an increasingly busy evening.
It meant that the teams headed in at the break with few fans watching in any doubt as to where the points were heading — they were going back to Riyadh, but nobody could have predicted that there were still many more goals to come.
Malcom scored twice in three minutes early after the restart. Mitrovic was involved again, slipping the ball through the backline for the Brazilian winger to enter the area, skip past the ‘keeper with his first touch and then slide home. 
Then Michael got to the byline on the left and pulled the ball back for Malcom to score from close range and it was all getting very painful indeed for Al-Hazm. Almost immediately, however, they scored, but Mohamed Al-Thani’s precious strike was ruled out for offside and there was to be no respite. 
The visiting fans had to wait until the 79th minute for No. 6 and it came from Saleh Al-Shehri who returned to club action after scoring four goals in two World Cup qualifiers for Saudi Arabia, who defeated Pakistan and Jordan.
His goal was a simple tap-in after Michael had again reached the right byline this time and rolled the ball across the goal for the in-form Al-Shehri. Two minutes later, Al-Breik made a rare appearance on the scoresheet. The full-back entered the area and his low shot, if it was a shot and not an attempt at a low ball across the area, hit Dahmen and rolled in.
Malcom got his hat-trick with five minutes remaining, pouncing on a loose ball near the penalty spot and firing home a low drive. Then came No. 9 from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic inside injury time.
History was made but more importantly, Al-Hilal are once again clear at the top. It is looking increasingly like only Al-Nassr can stop them. The Riyadh Derby next week is going to be something special.
LONDON: Mikel Arteta saluted “adorable” Kai Havertz after the German sent Arsenal to the top of the Premier League with the last-gasp goal that clinched a 1-0 win at Brentford on Saturday.
Havertz was a Champions League final hero for Chelsea in 2021, but he has endured a torrid time since crossing London to join Arsenal in the close-season.
The 24-year-old midfielder finally gave a glimpse of why Arteta splashed out £65 million ($80 million) to sign him when he headed home in the closing minutes.
Havertz’s second goal for Arsenal was his first in his last 10 appearances, moving his team one point clear of second placed Manchester City, who were held to a 1-1 draw by third placed Liverpool earlier in the day.
“That is the beautiful thing about life. When you have challenges and you have to overcome them, it makes these moments much better,” Arteta said.
“That is the reason the people reacted to him like that today. It is because he is adorable and he is a joy to work with. He fully deserves more than anybody to get that win.”
Arsenal’s third successive win in all competitions proved they have erased the bitter taste of their controversial VAR-aided defeat at Newcastle earlier in November.
Arteta’s men had already won at the Gtech Community Stadium in the League Cup in September and they left it late before making it another successful trip to west London.
“I love winning and we are top of the table. This is where we have to want to be,” Arteta said.
“When you have an opportunity to take a bite out of everybody you have to do it.
“I was really curious how the team was going to do. Winter has started, it was very cold and it is difficult coming to Brentford. I loved the way the team competed.”
With on-loan Arsenal keeper David Raya not eligible to play against his parent club, Aaron Ramsdale made his first league start since September 3.
Ramsdale’s father recently criticized Arteta’s handling of the Arsenal goalkeeping controversy, with the England international surprisingly losing his place to Raya despite recording the second most Premier League clean-sheets last season.
But Arteta’s faith in Raya received a boost when Ramsdale, his confidence clearly affected by his spell on the bench, almost gifted Brentford the lead with a horrendous mistake early in the first half.
Trying to play out from the six-yard box after Gabriel’s back-pass, Ramsdale panicked under pressure from Yoane Wissa.
Ramsdale missed his kick and the ball rolled to Bryan Mbeumo, whose shot was cleared off the line by Declan Rice before Wissa stabbed the rebound wide.
Arteta refused to be drawn on Ramsdale’s shaky performance, saying only: “I am really happy with the team and the way the team played and we kept the clean sheet.”
After a slow start from Arsenal, they finally showed signs of life when Trossard headed Oleksandr Zinchenko’s cross over before Gabriel nodded into the side-netting.
Arsenal thought they had taken the lead in the 42nd minute when Gabriel Jesus met Bukayo Saka’s cross with a header that was parried by Mark Flekken and Leandro Trossard nodded home from close-range.
But a VAR check decided Trossard was narrowly offside, giving Arteta another dose of frustration at the hands of the review system.
Brentford nearly made Arsenal pay for their lethargy as Neal Maupay’s header was brilliantly cleared off the line by the stretching Zinchenko before the French forward poked the rebound wastefully wide.
That proved a crucial moment as Havertz came off the bench to win it in the 89th minute.
Saka’s cross picked out Havertz’s run to the far post and the German guided his header past Flekken as Arteta jumped for joy on the touchline.
BERLIN: When Kevin Volland scored a late equalizer for Union Berlin, assistant coach Marie-Louise Eta pushed the team for more.
Eta had already made history on Saturday by becoming the first female assistant coach in the 60-year history of the Bundesliga, as well as in the other top divisions of Europe’s “big five” soccer leagues.
With Union bidding to end a nine-game run of German league defeats, Volland scored two minutes before the end of regulation time against Augsburg to set off celebrations of joy and relief around Union’s Stadion An der Alten Försterei. It was Union’s first goal in five games and the match ended 1-1.
Eta didn’t celebrate the goal for long, but instead encouraged her players to go for the win. There were still five minutes of injury time to play.
Kevin Behrens was blocked, Josip Juranović went close, and in the end, Union had to be content with a point as they climbed off the bottom of the standings.
“An important step in the right direction,” interim coach Marco Grote said.
Grote and Eta were appointed by Union during the international break to replace the popular Urs Fischer and assistant Markus Hoffmann. Union enjoyed unprecedented success with Fischer at the helm, but nine consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga this season forced a painful departure.
Union’s Germany international Robin Gosens said the new coaching team hadn’t changed too much.
“They didn’t want to destroy our work, or Urs Fischer’s work over the last five years,” Gosens said. “On the contrary, they said from the start that Union is what Urs Fischer has built up over the last five years, namely the mentality, giving everything we have for each other on the field. I think we showed that today.”
But Grote and Eta also brought their own ideas, Gosens said.
“What was new were two or three approaches, and two or three new ideas about how we play the spaces and get behind the defense. I think it worked quite well. We found room and good solutions,” Gosens said. “And I think the combination led to a really good game from us today.”
JEDDAH: The draw for the Next Gen ATP finals, starting in Saudi Arabia next week, was held on Saturday night.
The season-ending tournament, presented by NEOM, will be staged at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah from Nov. 28 with the final taking place on Saturday, Dec. 2.
The draw was divided into two groups. The Red group will have Luca Van Assche, Alex Michelensen, Hamad Madjedovic and Abdullah Shelbaya. While the Green group consists of Arthur Fils, Dominic Stricker, Flavio Cobolli and Luca Nardi.

The tournament is organized by the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Tennis Federation, who signed a partnership with ATP for a period of five years until 2027.
The top eight players aged 21 or under in the 2023 ATP Tour qualified for the event, although there have been withdrawals as world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz and world No 8 Holger Rune (both 20) will not feature as they competed at the ATP Finals.
The tournament prize pot will be a record $2 million, with the champion at this year’s event set to earn $514,000.
Three matches at this year’s Next Gen ATP Finals will be worth more than $100,000. Each semi-final victory will be worth $113,500 and the championship match will yield the winner $153,000. The participation fee for each player at the event is $150,000.
JEDDAH: Jordan’s 20-year-old international tennis player Abdullah Shelbayh has urged Arab spectators to come and cheer him on as he competes in Jeddah’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM next week.
Having just turned 20 on Nov. 16, Shelbayh will be one of eight players to compete in the under-21 event at the Next Gen ATP Finals from Nov. 28-Dec. 2, a media statement said on Saturday.
Competing against the elite from his worldwide peer group in Saudi Arabia will be “a special moment” for Shelbayh, who alongside stars of the future Arthur Fils, Dominic Stricker, Luca Van Assche, Flavio Cobolli, Alex Michelsen, Hamad Medjedovi and Luca Nardi, will battle it out for global glory and a $514,000 top prize.
Arab support will “mean the world” to Shelbayh, who is urging as many spectators as possible to attend this year’s event at King Abdullah Sports City.
“In the tournament, I think I’ll need the support from the Arab world during the week,” says the 20-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon Junior doubles final in 2021.
“I’ll be depending on them, honestly. It’ll be very special for me to see Arab fans watch me play there.”
“In most countries in the Arab world, tennis is not as developed a sport,” said Shelbayh.
“But for me as a Jordanian, as an Arab as well, to be playing in such a special event is an honor. It’s a great way for me to show to the world — the Arab world and the whole world — that we can have talent and special players from our region.”
Born in Amman, Shelbayh is ranked 187th in the world by ATP, making him by far the region’s highest ranked male — as well as the first Jordanian tennis player to achieve an ATP world ranking.
The success of Tunisian star Ons Jabeur — the former world No.2 and three-time Grand Slam finalist who is the highest ranked Arab tennis player in both WTA and ATP rankings history — has sparked interest in tennis in the region.
Shelbayh, who describes Jabeur as having done “wonders” for tennis in the Arab world, hopes he can prove just as, or even more, inspirational as he embarks on his professional career.
“I hope I will be inspiring many young kids from the Arab world to play this sport,” said the Jordanian, who, after moving from his homeland aged 14, trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Spain. He then spent a year playing at the University of Florida before turning professional.
Established in 2017, previous tournaments took place in Milan before an agreement was sealed for Jeddah to host the Next Gen ATP Finals from at least 2023 to 2027.

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