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Al-Nassr are doing their best work ahead of Luis Castro's side's decisive clash with Al-Hilal.
Today the star of the show was once again Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese striker scored a brace in three minutes to put the seal on a game that was getting difficult for his team, who ran out 3-0 winners.
With this victory they are one point behind their biggest rivals.
Al-Nassr started with a warning. With no time for the fans to settle in their seats, Talisca threatened Paulo Vitor with a shot from inside the box. Ronaldo had his chance in the 5th minute, in his best move of the first half, when he went through two players and his shot went just wide of the post.
There was a surprise with who opened the scoring. Sami finished off a gift from Sultan. From then on, Al-Nassr's dominance faded. Like a student who focuses on the difficult subject (Al-Hilal) and is confident in the easy one (Al-Akhdoud). And so, it was.
Collado, formerly of Elche and on loan from Betis with the Saudi Arabian team, showed why he is the most important player in his team with a good shot from outside the area.
Shortly after came the scare from Fatil inside the area, who was saved by a previous offside. On the verge of half-time, Talisca again troubled Paulo Vítor with an acrobatic shot that went wide. If it had gone in, we would have had the goal of the month.
Brozovic improves for Al-Nassr
Ronaldo went off in a huff at half-time. A symptom of how badly Al-Nassr were struggling, the Croatian came on in the 54th minute when the tone was the same as it had been at the end of the first half. And from then on, the Croatian and Otavio took control of the game, although chances came in dribs and drabs from both sides.
Cristiano Ronaldo's double in three minutes
The last 15 minutes of the match had one name running through the plot. Cristiano Ronaldo.
In that time the Portuguese scored two goals, one from 30 meters in a move similar to David Villa's goal in Spain-Chile at the 2010 World Cup, and had another disallowed for offside. He also linked up well with Brozovic and Otavio, with whom he was generous with his passing.
Zero minutes for Sadio Mane
The Senegalese forward spent the whole game on the bench. For several stretches of the match his team missed him, but the decisive matches facing Al-Nassr in the coming week, with games against Persepolis (Champions League) and Al-Hilal (League), led Luis Castro to leave him on the bench.
Al-Nassr's hopes are high after overcoming Al-Akhdoud with a precious, albeit fortunate, result, but one that will put undoubtedly pile the pressure on Al-Hilal.