Al Nassr vs Al Fateh final score, result, highlights as Cristiano Ronaldo scores in Saudi Pro League win

Joe Wright

Al Nassr vs Al Fateh final score, result, highlights as Cristiano Ronaldo scores in Saudi Pro League win image

Cristiano Ronaldo made it two goals in two games in 2024 as Al Nassr resumed Saudi Pro League duties with a 2-1 win over Al Fateh on February 17.

The Portugal great scored on his first competitive start of 2024 this week, his goal giving Al Nassr a 1-0 win over fellow Saudi side Al Feiha in the first leg of their AFC Champions League tie.

Ronaldo broke the deadlock once more on Saturday, sweeping home a fine first-time finish, but Al Nassr's lead only lasted 12 minutes before Salem Al Najdi struck a fierce shot past substitute goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah.

Al Nassr were far from convincing after the break but a telling moment of quality ended up sealing the points, Ronaldo's compatriot Otavio turning in a powerful diving header midway through the second half. Luis Castro's team are now four points behind unbeaten league leaders Al Hilal, who have a game in hand.

Al Nassr vs Al Fateh final score

  Fulltime Goal scorers
Al Nassr 2 Ronaldo (17'), Otavio (72')
Al Fateh 1 Al Najdi (29')

Confirmed lineups:

Al Nassr (4-2-3-1, right to left): 36. Raghid Al Najjar (33. Waleed Abdullah, 26') (GK) — 2. Sultan Al Ghanam (5. Abdulelah Al Amri, 81') 78. Ali Alawjami, 27. Aymeric Laporte, 15. Alex Telles — 17. Abdullah Al Khaibari, 77. Marcelo Brozovic — 94. Anderson Talisca, 25. Otavio (14. Sami Al Najei, 90+4'), 10. Sadio Mane — 7. Cristiano Ronaldo.

Al Fateh (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Jacob Rinne (GK) — 2. Ali Al Zubaidi, 64. Jason Denayer, 17. Marwane Saadane, 83. Salem Al Najdi — 7. Mukhtar Ali, 28. Sofiane Bendebka (87. Qassim Alawjami, 89') — 11. Murad Batna, 10. Lucas Zelarayan, 37. Cristian Tello (49. Saad Fahad Al Sharfa, 79') — 21. Djaniny (66. Abbas Al Hassan, 68')

MORE: Al Nassr's complete fixture list for 2024

Ronaldo connected sweetly with a low cross from Sultan Al Ghanam to give his side the lead, the 39-year-old just getting to the ball ahead of his marker, Jason Denayer, the former Manchester City and Lyon defender.

Al Nassr have looked a little suspect in defence for much of this season, though, and it never felt like an equaliser would be a surprise. It duly arrived just before the half-hour mark, Al Najdi's left-foot strike from the edge of the box proving too powerful for Abdullah, who had only come on for the injured Raghid Al Najjar three minutes earlier.

Al Nassr were indebted to the veteran Saudi goalkeeper for preventing Al Fateh from snatching a surprise lead before Otavio superbly headed in another good delivery from Al Ghanam, arguably the home side's most industrious and consistent player in the past couple of months.

The visitors never truly threatened a second goal as Al Nassr saw out nine minutes of added time thanks in part to Ronaldo's defensive efforts, the forward harrying the Al Fateh back line well and doing his utmost to prevent any late attacks.

The title race is still in Al Hilal's hands, but as long as Ronaldo can keep up this scoring rate, Al Nassr will remain well in the hunt.

Al Nassr vs Al Fateh highlights

Al Nassr vs Al Fateh lineups

Al Nassr head coach Luis Castro could have looked to use Ronaldo for a limited amount of time in this game ahead of the clash with Al Feiha in midweek, but his star forward ended up playing the whole game.

Australia international Aziz Behich got his first taste of Saudi Pro League action after joining on loan from Melbourne City, with Sadio Mane back in the team.

Al Nassr starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Al-Najjar (GK) — Al Ghanam, A. Alawjami, Laporte, Behich — Al Khaibari, Brozovic — Talisca, Otavio, Mane — Ronaldo.

Al Nassr subs: Al Fatil, Al Amri, Al Sulaiheem, Boushal, Al Najei, Alhassan, Yahya, Abdullah, Al Aliwa

Al Fateh find themselves neatly placed in mid-table as the Saudi Pro League season restarts with former Barcelona winger Cristian Tello the standout name in their squad.

Al Fateh starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Rinne (GK) — Al Zubaidi, Denayer, Saadane, Al Najdi — Ali, Bendebka — Batna, Zelarayan, Tello — Djaniny

Al Fateh subs: Al Harbi, Al Mousa, Al Saeed, Al Daheem, Al Masoud, Al Sharfa, Al Anzi, Al Hassan, Q. Alawjami

Al Nassr vs Al Fateh live stream, TV channel

Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:

  TV channel Streaming
USA Fox Soccer Plus, Fox Deportes Fubo, Fox Sports app/website
Australia  — 10 Play
Canada  — DAZN
UK DAZN 1 DAZN
India Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 5 JioTV, Sony LIV

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.