Al Ettifaq 2-3 Al Nassr Player Ratings: Mané's Double Powers Al Nassr To An Inspirational Comeback Despite Being A Man Short

Cristiano Ronaldo & co. faced 2nd-placed Al Ettifaq in an away fixture on matchday 3 of the Saudi Pro League 2026/27 season. Both teams were level on points, and a win for either team would have seen them at the top of the table, so the agenda was quite clear.

However, Al Nassr were off to a horrendous start as their goalkeeper Bento was shown a red card in just the 12th minute, as he took out Moussa Dembélé just outside the penalty box, in a one-on-one position.

It was always going to be difficult with 10 men on the pitch for the Men in Yellow, and they paid the price in the 31st minute, when Ondrej Duda's long-range shot went off the 18-year-old goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al Otaibi's diving hand onto the crossbar and into the back of the net to give Al Ettifaq the lead.

The young goalkeeper made another blunder just before halftime, as Álvaro Medrán's banger from yards went through his hands once again. A nightmare for someone so young who was thrown into the mix all of a sudden due to Bento's wrongdoings.

One of the greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo, came the closest to scoring for Al Nassr in the first half, but his effort was valiantly saved by Turki Ba Al Jawsh.

Ange Postecoglou's side came in the second half with renewed energy despite being a man short, and they almost pulled one back by Sadio Mané, but a VAR check deemed the goal invalid as Nawaf Al-Boushail came back from an offside position while playing the ball back to the Senegalese forward in the box.

Mané had to wait till the 74th minute, as he was found by João Félix with a lovely through ball, and he dispatched it right into the front post to pull one back for the visitors. Abdulelah Al Amri scored the equalizer out of nowhere in the 78th minute from a corner, making the last few minutes of the game quite crucial.

It was one of the best AFCON players, Sadio Mané, who scored the winning goal in the 90th minute, which was initially given offside. Nevertheless, a VAR check deemed it valid, and the Al Nassr fans rocked the away stand of the Al Ettifaq Club Stadium.

Here are the Al Ettifaq vs Al Nassr Player Ratings.

Key Takeaways

• Both Álvaro Medrán and João Félix had the most key passes in this game (4).
• Abdulelah Al-Amri recorded the most clearances in this match (4).
• Yasir Shammari and Nawaf Boushal won the most ground duels (5).

Al Ettifaq Player Ratings vs Al Nassr

Have a look at Al Ettifaq Player Ratings from the Al Ettifaq vs Al Nassr Player Ratings.

Al Nassr Player Ratings vs Al Ettifaq

Check out Al Nassr Player Ratings from the Al Ettifaq vs Al Nassr Player Ratings.

Man of the Match

Sadio Mané was the best player in this SPL fixture.

Worst Performer

Bento Krepski was the worst performer from Al Ettifaq vs Al Nassr.