Joao Felix fires Al-Nassr past Neom after Cristiano Ronaldo penalty miss

Al-Nassr secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Neom in the 10th round of the Saudi Pro League, with Joao Felix scoring the second-half winner after Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty before the interval.

Al-Nassr started on the front foot and almost took the lead in the 12th minute. Sadio Mane found Joao Felix outside the penalty area, but the Portuguese forward’s left-footed effort was deflected away by the Neom defence before it could reach the goal.

The hosts came closest to breaking the deadlock in first-half stoppage time when the referee awarded them a penalty in the sixth minute of added time.

Ronaldo, Al-Nassr’s captain, stepped up to take the spot-kick. However, he sent his right-footed effort wide of the left post, allowing Neom to reach half-time with the score level at 0-0.

Al-Nassr continued to search for an opening after the restart and eventually found it in the 61st minute. Angelo supplied the pass for Felix, who struck a powerful right-footed shot from outside the penalty area into the upper central part of the net.

The goal gave Al-Nassr a valuable lead, and Felix’s finish proved enough to settle the match.

The result moved Al-Nassr on to 22 points and up to third in the Saudi Pro League table. Neom remain sixth on 16 points.

Elsewhere in the same round, Al-Ittihad claimed a convincing 4-1 win over Al-Ettifaq.

Houssem Aouar, Youssef En-Nesyri, who scored twice, and Nigerian forward George Ilenikhena were on target for Al-Ittihad. Sultan Haroun scored Al-Ettifaq’s only goal.

The victory took Al-Ittihad’s points total to 20 and lifted them into fourth place, while Al-Ettifaq stayed eighth with 15 points.