RIYADH: The energy level at Al-Awwal Park was noticeably lower than usual on Wednesday night as Al-Nassr hosted Abha on Matchday 6 of the Saudi Pro League.

Still reeling from a 2-1 defeat to Al-Ittihad in Jeddah on Saturday, the hosts needed a convincing victory against their winless opponents to restore fan morale.

While the victory did indeed come for Al-Nassr, Abha did not make it easy for a home side that were missing several key players from their lineup. Joao Felix was out through suspension, Kingsley Coman through injury, and head coach Ange Postecoglou opted to rest Abdulelah Al-Amri.

With Abdullah Al-Hamdan partnering Ronaldo up front, and Angelo dropping to the right of midfield, Abha head coach Damir Buric set his team up in a deep 5-4-1 formation in the hopes of pulling off an unlikely upset.

Captain Abdullah Al-Fahad alternated between a center-back role and a defensive-midfield position, depending on how far Abha managed to push up the pitch, and was tasked with keeping a close eye on Ronaldo.

That strategy came undone in the 22nd minute after Abha conceded a corner. Angelo delivered an inswinger toward the box and Ronaldo leapt to power a header toward the far corner. The ball struck the post before bouncing past Donovan Leon and into the net.

Abha responded with their best attacking spell of the match immediately after this, taking advantage of the post-goal lull to push forward on the counter. In the 23rd minute Michy Batshuayi released Alimami Gory in behind, sending him clear, but the striker’s effort hit the post.

Three minutes later, it was Batshuayi who broke in behind the defensive line after a precise through ball from center-back Abdulbasit Hindi, but Mohammed Simakan recovered in time to dispossess him — and the assistant referee raised his flag for offside anyway.

Ronaldo came close to moving another step closer to the target of 1,000 career goals when, in the 38th minute, he received the ball with his back to goal, turned and fired, only for his effort to hit the post. A minute later, Al-Hamdan headed the ball back to him from a corner but Ronaldo’s effort was denied by a goal-line clearance as Leon and Al-Fahad combined to keep it out.

The game remained largely under Al-Nassr’s control in the second half, with the occasional Abha foray not enough to seriously unsettle the hosts. In the 58th minute, Al-Hamdan appeared to have put the game beyond doubt with a powerful finish into the far corner that made it 2-0, but Abha were not about to give up just yet.

Nabil Fekir might no longer be at quite his physical peak but in the 75th minute, the 33-year-old showed that age has done nothing to dull his instinct for seizing the moment.

As the Frenchman lined up to take an inswinging free-kick from the left flank, he caught the Al-Nassr defense, and goalkeeper Bento, off guard when he opted to shoot directly at goal rather than deliver a cross and made it 2-1, setting up a tense finale.

Abha came close to an equalizer 10 minutes later, when Simakan was pressed by Batshuayi on the touchline in his own half. The striker fended off the defensive challenge and drove toward goal, his shot passing just wide of the post, much to the relief of the home fans.

The victory left Al-Nassr level on 15 points with Al-Hilal and Al-Qadsiah at the top of the table after the first six games of the season.

Elsewhere, Al-Kholood continued their own stellar start to the season as they extended their unbeaten league run to six games with a 2-1, come-from-behind home victory over Al-Shabab. A late goal from Abdulrahman Al-Dosari sealed the three points for Des Buckingham’s men, who moved into sixth place on 12 points.

Newly promoted Diriyah secured their third win of the season with an away victory over winless Al-Fateh 2-1. Darwin Nunez opened the scoring for Diriyah in the 28th minute from the spot, Faisal Al-Abdulwahed equalized in the 35th, and Adil Boulbina scored what proved to be the winner at the end of the first half.

The SPL action continues on Friday, with the Dammam Derby between Al-Qadsiah and Al-Ettifaq the headline attraction.