Al Nassr, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, are off to a dismal start in the current Saudi Pro League campaign as they fell to Al Taawoun 2-0 in their most recent home game.
For the high-spending Al Nassr, star players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Anderson Talisca, and Marcelo Brozovic were unable to score.
Leandre Tawamba, a Cameroonian forward, headed a wide-open corner kick in the 20th minute to get the visitors going. Al Taawoun’s five-man defence and sure-handed custodian then frustrated Ronaldo and Al Nassr all night long before substitute Ahmed Bahusayn sealed the victory in stoppage time.
After winning the Arab Club Champions Cup 48 hours earlier, many of Al Nassr’s key players were given a break, which may have contributed to their 2-1 loss to Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq in the opening weekend. Although they were all back on the pitch, they were unable to match Al Taawoun’s flawless game plan of defending in numbers and counterattacking through quick Brazilian winger Mateus.
Al Taawoun outshot Al Nassr 24-8, although the home team only managed to get five of those attempts on target, compared to the visitors’ six.