Al-Nassr 2-0 Al-Ittihad: Mane Shines In Ronaldo's Absence

Al-Nassr kept up their charge in the Saudi Pro League with a 2-0 home win over Al-Ittihad, securing a sixth straight league victory and closing the gap on leaders Al-Hilal to one point, as Sadio Mane again decided the match while Cristiano Ronaldo missed a second successive game.

The hosts controlled much of the game at Al-Awwal Park and limited Al-Ittihad to rare moments in attack, with the visitors failing to register a shot after Mane’s late penalty, before Angelo broke clear in stoppage time to seal the result with a composed finish through Predrag Rajkovic’s legs.

Ronaldo, 41, remained absent following protests against Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, yet Al-Nassr again leaned on Mane, who had also scored the only goal in the previous

1-0 victory over Al-Riyadh, stepping up from the penalty spot in the 84th minute to send Rajkovic the wrong way.

Mane’s breakthrough arrived after a long spell of pressure, though Al-Ittihad nearly escaped with a point before Mohammed Barnawi handled Aiman Yahya’s goal-bound shot inside the area, giving the referee little choice but to award a penalty following the incident late in normal time.

The overall statistics underlined Al-Nassr’s superiority, as they generated 1.91 expected goals from 16 attempts, compared with Al-Ittihad’s 0.11 from just five shots, only one of which tested the goalkeeper, while the home side consistently pushed the visitors back and controlled territory throughout the contest.

Individually, Mane delivered a complete attacking display, recording a match-high 1.23 expected goals, taking five shots, registering 12 touches in the opposition box, and also working hard off the ball by contesting 15 duels, the joint-most for Al-Nassr, and matching the team-high figure of four aerial wins.

Team	Goals	Shots	Shots on Target	Expected Goals (xG)
Al-Nassr	2	16	Not specified	1.91
Al-Ittihad	0	5	1	0.11

Earlier in the match, Mane almost opened the scoring when a deflected effort forced Rajkovic into an early save, while Joao Felix tried from distance for Al-Ittihad, only for the goalkeeper to gather comfortably, and Kingsley Coman later cut the ball back for Mane, who fired over from close range.

Al-Nassr also benefited from a key first-half VAR review, as officials checked whether Mohamed Simakan had handled a cross inside the penalty area, but the referee decided no foul had occurred, allowing play to continue before the match tightened until the late surge from the home side.

Home. Loud. Victorious. pic.twitter.com/OxFP14Y5lO AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) February 6, 2026

With Jorge Jesus’ side defending comfortably after the breakthrough and denying Al-Ittihad any late response, Angelo’s solo run from inside Al-Nassr’s half on the counterattack capped a largely controlled performance that extended their winning streak and maintained pressure on Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League title race.