Ittihad move close to title after Ronaldo and Al-Nassr falter

Al-Ittihad defeated Abha 4-0 to move five points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League with four games to go. (Twitter/@ittihad)

• Al-Nassr needed to win to go level on points and put pressure on the Tigers

JEDDAH: Just hours after Cristiano Ronaldo and his Al-Nassr teammates stumbled in their title challenge with a 1-1 draw at home to lowly Al-Khaleej on Monday, Al-Ittihad comfortably defeated Abha 4-0 to move five points clear at the top of the league with only four games left to play.

The title race is not over just yet but surely few would be willing to bet against the Roshn Saudi League trophy heading to Jeddah.

Al-Nassr needed to win to go level on points and put pressure on the Tigers. In the event, however, they delivered the latest in a series of uncertain performances that have cost them seven points in the last four games. In front of an expectant home crowd, the Yellows started brightly but found themselves behind after just three minutes. Fabio Martins has been in fine form of late for Al-Khaleej, and the Portuguese forward timed his run perfectly to latch onto a delightful reverse pass from Morato and slide his shot past Agustin Rossi.

The lead did not last long, however. Abdulrahman Ghareeb floated over a free-kick from the left and Alvaro Gonzalez rose at the near post to nod his header into the opposite corner. Al-Nassr kept the pressure on, with a fierce shot from Luiz Gustavo that seemed destined for the top corner well-saved by Marwan Al-Haidari, who then got down well to keep out a low shot from Ronaldo.

The Saudi goalkeeper stayed busy and had to make a number of stops, most notably eight minutes before the break when he got down well again to block a shot from Ghareeb, who had broken free to latch on to a ball from deep.

It was not the smoothest of first-half performances from Al-Nassr, who struggled to get their star player into the game, but the expectation was that something would happen in the second half. And the 38-year-old did get the ball in the net just before the hour mark, stabbing it in from close range after Al-Haidari had saved, but he had strayed offside in the process.

He again came close with 10 minutes remaining, cutting inside the area from the left, dancing past two defenders to send a low shot just wide. There were more chances to come, with substitute Ayman Yahya heading against the crossbar in the final minutes. When the ball bounced over, it really felt that this was not to be Al-Nassr’s night, though credit should certainly go to the visitors, who fought hard for a point that will help them in their battle to avoid the drop back to the second tier.

If the post-match mood of the home fans was to change, they needed Abha to do them a massive favor against the league leaders. But it wasn’t to be. If there was a suggestion that Al-Ittihad might be wobbling after a 2-1 loss to Al-Taawoun in their previous game, there was no sign of any nerves as they went three goals up by the break.

In the 13th minute, Igor Coronado slipped a free-kick into the area and it was collected by Romarinho who flipped up the ball and volleyed it home to raise the roof at King Abdullah Sports City.

Three minutes later, Abderrazak Hamadallah added a second, running onto a lofted Coronado pass to head it past the goalkeeper from outside the area. It was the 20th time he has netted this season and moved him two goals ahead of his closest goal-scoring rival, Odion Ighalo of Al-Hilal. By the half-hour, the game was over as a contest when Romarinho grabbed his second and the team’s third. Mohammed Al-Saiari’s injury-time penalty was the icing on the cake.

It was a professional and clinical performance; the performance of champions in waiting. Al-Ittihad are not quite there yet but this was a massive step toward the title after Al-Nassr stumbled once more.