SPL 26/27: Ronaldo, Hamdan, Gabriel shine as Al Nassr defeats Al Faisaly
Al-Nassr Saudi FC Friday October 23, 2026 defeated Al Faisaly football club, thanks to a goal each by Cristiano Ronaldo, Abdullah al-Hamdan and Angelo Gabriel.
Saudi Pro League 2026-27: Al-Nassr Saudi FC Friday October 23, 2026 defeated Al Faisaly football club, thanks to a goal each by Cristiano Ronaldo, Abdullah al-Hamdan and Angelo Gabriel.
The Saudi Pro League 2026-27 group match played at King Salman Sport City Stadium in Al Majma'ah, Saudi Arabia was one sided from the kick-start as Al Nassr, playing away, was favourite.
The pressure certainly was on Al Faisaly footballers who could not withstand it. The result was 1-3 debacle at the hands of the 2025-26 SPL Champions.
Al-Faisaly vs Al-Nassr Highlights
Abdullah Al-Hamdan opened the scoring for Al-Nassr in the 4th minute, repaying the faith of Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, who picked him ahead of Brazilian Angelo Gabriel.
Cristiano Ronaldo extended the lead four minutes into the Second Half, heading home in the 49th to leave his side in relative comfort. Then Theo Bongonda hauled Al-Faisaly back into it, pulling one back in the 66th minute to crank up the tension for the closing stages.
Angelo Gabriel settled it. The man, who began the match on the bench drilled home from inside the box in the 79th minute, proving the value of Postecoglou's attacking substitutions and killing off Al-Faisaly's hopes of a comeback.
The match ended 3-1 in Al-Nassr's favour.
The other highlight of the Al Nassr vs Al Faisaly match today was the Man of the Match award. Al Nassr captain Ronaldo was officially adjudged the Man of the Match. He, however, handed over the trophy to his team-mate Abdullah Al-Hamdan.
[Ronaldo was officially adjudged the Man of the Match. He, however, handed over the trophy to his team-mate Abdullah Al-Hamdan.]
Cristiano Ronaldo 18 goals away from 1,000 target
Ronaldo's goal against Al-Faisaly Friday was his 982nd career goal. It means the Portuguese star footballer is now just 18 goals away from his dream target of 1,000 goals.
With this goal, Ronaldo also moves into Saudi Pro League top 10 scorers' list.
Ivan Toney of Al-Ahli Saudi FC is leading the SPL top scorers' list with 11 goals. Youssef En-Nesyri of Al Qadsiah and Mateo Retegui of Al Ittihad are on the 2nd and 3rd place with 7 and 6 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo, George Ilenikhena, Francisco Trincao, Alexandre Lacazette, Alexandre Mendy, Steven Bergwijn and Tijjani Reijnders are other footballers in the list with 5 goals each.
On the other hand, with this victory, the Al-Nassr's score in the Saudi Pro League standing table reads 8/10 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 20 goal difference, 25 points. Al Nassr is now placed second after Al Hilal which is leading the SPL 26/27 Standing Table with 26 points.
Meanwhile, Al Hilal vs Al Qadsiah, underway at Prince Mohammad bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, is heading for a draw with both the teams scoring a goal each at Half Time.
[Zohair M Safwan Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com.]
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