Cristiano Ronaldo walked down the tunnel at halftime in a foul mood on Tuesday, hauled off by Ange Postecoglou with Al Nassr trailing Al Ettifaq 2-0 and already reduced to ten men — only to watch from the bench as his teammates produced one of the wildest comebacks of the young Saudi Pro League season to win 3-2.
The night unravelled early for the champions. In the 12th minute, goalkeeper Bento raced off his line to close down Al Ettifaq forward Moussa Dembélé and brought him down just outside the box. Referee Mohammed Al-Hoaish had no hesitation showing a straight red card, forcing Postecoglou into an immediate reshuffle as backup keeper Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi came on.
Playing a man light for the remaining 78 minutes proved costly before the break. Ondrej Duda put Al Ettifaq ahead in the 31st minute, and Álvaro Medrán doubled the lead deep into first-half stoppage time, sending Al Nassr in 2-0 down at the interval despite their numerical disadvantage.
That is when Postecoglou made his second big call of the night, withdrawing Ronaldo at the break to add midfield cover and shore up a side already stretched thin with ten men. According to ONE's report on the incident, the Portuguese star was visibly unhappy about the decision, seen remonstrating with teammates before disappearing down the tunnel without returning for the second half.
The frustration was understandable on more than one level. Ronaldo had scored in Al Nassr's previous league outing and, sitting on 978 career goals in his relentless pursuit of the 1,000 mark, every minute on the pitch carries extra weight for the 41-year-old at this stage of his career.
What followed vindicated his coach's gamble, even if it will do little to soothe Ronaldo's mood. Sadio Mané pulled a goal back in the 74th minute, latching onto a through ball from João Félix to beat the Al Ettifaq goalkeeper.
Three minutes later Al Nassr were level. Abdulelah Al-Amri rose to meet a corner delivered by Félix and headed the equaliser home, capping a remarkable turnaround for a team that had spent more than an hour playing with ten men.
The comeback was completed in the 90th minute. Mané struck again after Sami Al-Naji broke clear on the counter-attack, snatching all three points for Al Nassr in stoppage time and sending the travelling supporters into raptures.
It was a result that defied the arithmetic of the match — a red card inside a quarter of an hour, a two-goal halftime deficit, and the team's biggest name substituted before the second half even began. Yet Al Nassr found a way, with Mané and Félix combining to overturn the deficit twice over.
The win keeps Al Nassr's start to the 2026-27 Saudi Pro League campaign unblemished as they open the defence of the title they claimed last May under Postecoglou, but the postmatch conversation will likely centre on Ronaldo's on-camera reaction rather than his teammates' heroics — and on whether the veteran forward's minutes are now being carefully managed as he closes in on his 1,000th career goal.
