Saudi Pro League 2025-26: Ronaldo and Al Nassr’s title charge takes a blow after loss to Al Qadsiah

Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr suffered another blow in the 2025-26 Saudi Pro League title race after going down 1-2 to Al Qadsiah on Thursday.

Al Nassr, who lost their second league game in a row, are in second place with 31 points, four less than leaders Al Hilal, and both face each other in the Riyadh Derby on Monday.

Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez scored for Al Qadsiah, while Ronaldo converted from the spot for his team’s only goal.

As expected, Al Nassr started on the up front in front of a boisterous home crowd at Al Awwal Park, but Brendan Rodgers’ Qadsiah maintained a solid defensive shape in the opening minutes to weather the pressure from the home side’s attacks.

Quinones came close to breaking the deadlock in the 30th minute when he made perfect contact with a cross to get a shot away on the half-volley. But the effort fell straight to Al Nassr custodian Nawaf Alaqidi, who reacted well and saved.

In the 43rd minute, Kingsley Coman had perhaps the best scoring opportunity after Angelo Gabriel’s cross found the Frenchman at the far post. On his first shot, Coman failed to keep his shot on target from close range as the chance begged.

AS IT HAPPENED: NAS VERSUS QAD HIGHLIGHTS

The breakthrough came six minutes into the second half thanks to a howler from Alaqidi, who had rushed off his line to clear the ball. However, his attempt to talk about Quinones failed and instead bounced off the latter to send him through on goal. With an open goal ahead, the Mexican made no mistake in chasing the ball and putting it into the net. Nawaf, who tried to recover from his mistake at the last moment, failed to prevent the ball from hitting the net.

Al Qadsiah were riding high to score the opening goal and suffered a setback after losing goalkeeper Koen Casteels to injury after Angelo bumped into him in an attempt to chase down the loose ball.

However, Qadsiah responded superbly after losing his first-choice keeper to double the lead in the 66th minute. Quinones did well to win the ball on the right flank and find Retegui with the cutback. Retegui’s first shot was well saved by Nawaf, but he could do nothing about the rebound, which fell to Nandez as he fired the ball onto the roof of the net.

Leading 2-0 against Al Nassr, Al Qadsiah thought they were done, but the home side were given a lifeline in the 80th minute when VAR confirmed that centre-back Jehad Thakri had handled the ball in the penalty area, leading to the home side being awarded a penalty – a decision Qadsiah vehemently protested, with Nandez shown a yellow card for dissent.

As expected, Ronaldo stepped over the ball and found the bottom left corner after a stuttering run.

When the assistant showed eleven minutes of extra time at the end of the second half, Al Nassr and his fans knew there was plenty of time for a late equalizer, but Qadsiah maintained a watertight defense to see out the match and take three points.

Published on January 9, 2026