The clash between Al Nassr and Al Ittihad is considered the focus and has a great influence on the championship race. Before the 13th round, Al Ittihad is leading with 33 points while Al Nassr is ranked 3rd with 25 points. If they continue to lose to Al Ittihad, Al Nassr will almost "surrender" early in the race for the championship.
In addition, the Al Ittihad and Al Nassr squads possess many stars who have made their names known. Among them, the clash between Ronaldo and Benzema has received great attention. At their peak, Ronaldo and Benzema were teammates, helping Real Madrid win many titles. At the same time, the two were also close friends, combining with Gareth Bale to form the famous "BBC" trio, making every European defense fearsome.
The match between Al Nassr (right) and Al Ittihad is the highlight of round 13 of the Saudi Pro League
Contrary to experts' predictions, the first half of the match between Al Nassr and Al Ittihad took place with an uneven game. Al Ittihad played at home, entered the match with high spirits and continuously put Al Nassr's goal in a state of alarm. Al Nassr's defense worked hard and only luck helped Ronaldo's team end the match with a 0-0 draw.
Benzema was the best player in the first half, completely overshadowing Ronaldo. The Al Ittihad player wearing the number 9 shirt was everywhere, creating 3 clear-cut scoring situations. In the 23rd minute, Benzema broke through smartly, passed the ball to his teammate to shoot into the Al Nassr net. Unfortunately, this goal was not recognized because Benzema had committed an offside error earlier. Just 5 minutes later, Benzema continued to make Al Nassr fans gasp with a dangerous long-range shot, forcing goalkeeper Beto to fly as far as he could to block it. By the end of the first half, Benzema's mobility gave the surrounding satellites such as Houssem Aouar and Steven Bergwijn space, but all of them could not take advantage of the scoring opportunity.
Benzema (2nd from left) helps Al Ittihad dominate Al Nassr
On the opposite side, Ronaldo played poorly, not having any shots in the first half. The Portuguese player only touched the ball 15 times but lost the ball 5 times. The poor performance of the Al Nassr captain caused Al Nassr's attack to be "paralyzed".
It wasn't until the 39th minute that Mane gave Al Nassr their first chance to score when he broke free to face the Al Ittihad goalkeeper. However, the Senegalese player was too slow to handle the shot, allowing the Al Ittihad defense to successfully neutralize it.
Ronaldo played disappointingly in the first half, without any shots.
Things got more exciting in the second half as Al Nassr pushed up their formation and played offensively. Ronaldo also played brilliantly, helping Pioli's team have many scoring opportunities. In the 57th minute, Ronaldo charged in strongly, helping Al Nassr tie the score at 1-1. Two minutes earlier, his close friend Benzema opened the scoring with a close-range tap-in.
After two quick goals, the match between Al Nassr and Al Ittihad suddenly became tense in the last 30 minutes of the match. Instead of trying to attack and find a goal, the players of both sides continuously collided and many controversial situations occurred. In the second half alone, the main referee of the match had to hand out 8 yellow cards.
It seemed like the match would end in a 1-1 draw, but in the last minute of the match, Al Nassr conceded a second goal. The player who helped Al Ittihad seal the 2-1 victory was former Tottenham star Steven Bergwijn.
Benzema and Ronaldo both scored in the second half
Losing 1-2 to Al Ittihad, Al Nassr only has 26 points after 13 rounds, almost "surrendering" early in the championship race. Ronaldo's team is 11 points behind Al Ittihad and still has to go through a difficult schedule ahead. Worse, Al Nassr also officially lost 3rd place to Al Qadisiyah after this round. Meanwhile, Al Ittihad currently has 36 points, continuing to lead the table with 3 points more than Al Hilal.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ronaldo-bi-ban-than-benzema-lam-lu-mo-al-nassr-som-buong-bo-cuoc-dua-vo-dich-185241207020215878.htm
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