Cristiano Ronaldo was on target from the penalty spot to help secure Al-Nassr a 2-0 victory over 10-man Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
Angelo had given the hosts the leave just before the break, and Al-Wehda's game went from bad to worse as Waleed Bakshween received some late marching orders.
Al-Nassr dominated the first half and, after Wesley had struck the woodwork, finally got their reward in the 40th minute as Angelo latched onto Sadio Mane's throughball to lob a fine finish over Abdullah Al Owaishir.
Al-Wehda showed some fight after going behind, with Youssef Amyn flashing a shot wide on the stroke of half-time before Juninho Bacuna forced Bento into a good save after the restart.
The result was put beyond doubt shortly after though – Mohamed Al Makahasi pulled down Sultan Al Ghannam in the box, and Ronaldo made no mistake with the resulting spot-kick.
Mane was denied a goal of his own in the 81st minute, with Ronaldo straying just offside in the build-up, before Bakshween received a needless second yellow card for dissent five minutes later.
Al-Nassr move up to second in the table, just one point behind leaders Al-Hilal, for now, with Al-Wehda down in 14th.
|| Full time,@AlNassrFC 2:0 #AlWehda pic.twitter.com/VYhg4MdXJY
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) September 27, 2024
Data Debrief: Pioli makes dream start
Stefano Pioli won his first match in the Saudi Pro League 3-0 against Al-Ettifaq, and on Friday, became the first manager in the club's history to start his reign with back-to-back clean sheets in the competition.
The hard work was done in the first half though, as Al-Nassr had 14 of their 19 shots, accumulating 1.42 expected goals as they hit the target five times.