Cristiano & Co. crash before landing - Toko Ekambi's belter takes two points from Al-Nassr

After back-to-back defeats at the start of the season, Al-Nassr were a fear and awe for rivals across Asia for a month and a half. They were trampling everyone in the domestic championship and the Asina Champions League... Luis Castro's team tied for ten consecutive victories in all competitions, but the streak ended. And that when the club from Riyadh expected the least, against the outsider Abha - 2-2 (2-1).

The visitors came to the feet of Cristiano Ronaldo and his friends after a series of four straight defeats in the championship and after half an hour of the game they were well on their way to continue the negative streak. At that moment, the players of Abha were two goals behind, they were in a subordinate position and it seemed that the only question was how much Al-Nassr would score in the 9th round of the Saudi Premier League. However, Czeslaw Michniewicz's team managed to pull off a first-class surprise, and with a belter by Karl Toko Ekambi in the second minute of stoppage time, the home team dropped the already registered victory.

Al-Nassr, led by the big names of world football, dominated against the rival from the bottom of the table from the very start. And already in the third minute, after the cooperation of Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo Brozović, it led to Otavio's goal. Before the end of half an hour, Anderson Talisca doubled the lead, getting in front of Ciprian Tatarusanu on Sadio Mane's pass.

However, less than ten minutes later, Otavio was careless in the penalty area of Al-Nassr, ran into and knocked down Zakaria Al Sudani from behind in the race, and Saad Bguir cut Abha's deficit in half from the penalty spot.

However, that goal did not give wings to the visiting footballers, Al-Nassr had a main say in the rest of the game, but failed to break the rival and solve the question of the winner with a potential third goal. And they paid dearly for that at the very end of the match, and was punished by Karl Toko Ekambi. The Cameroonian came into the middle from the wing, carried the ball for a long time and looked for space to shoot, and when he found it, he fired a rocket from about twenty meters into the far corner for a complete shock at Al Awwal Park.

After nine games played, Al-Nassr is third with 19 points, while Abha is fifteenth with seven points.

SAUDI PRO LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 9

Friday

Al Nassr R. - Abha 2-2 (2-1)

/Otavio 3, Talisca 28 - Bguir 36 pen, Toko Ekambi 90+2/

21.00: (2.05) Al Itihad J. (3.45) Al Ahli Jeddah (3.30)

Saturday

18.00: (18.0) Al Akhdoud (11.0) Al Hilal (1.10)

21.00: (2.05) Al Wahda (3.45) Al Faiha (3.60)

21.00: (2.05) Al Khaleej (3.40) Al Raed (3.35)

***odds are subject to change***