Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Ronaldo penalty not enough to avoid second straight loss

Al-Nassr fell to a second straight defeat in the Saudi Pro League, despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty, as they were beaten 2-1 by Al-Qadsiah.

Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez had fired the visitors into a 2-0 lead by the midway point of the second half, and Al-Nassr fell just short in their comeback attempt.

Al-Nassr started brightly, with Kingsley Coman seeing a first-minute attempt blocked before Koen Casteels smothered a poked effort shortly after.

But Al-Qadsiah grew into the game with Quinones forcing Nawaf Al Aqidi into a smart save just before the half-hour mark, but they did not get their reward until the second half.

Six minutes after the break, Al Aqidi was drawn out to the left wing and hit his casual clearance against Quinones, who charged down the loose ball to turn it into an empty net.

Al-Qadsiah then lost Casteels to injury, but within a minute of his replacement, Ahmed Al Kassar, coming onto the pitch after a long delay, they doubled their lead as Nandez rifled in the rebound of Mateo Retegui’s saved shot.

However, Al-Nassr were given a late lifeline after Jehad Thikri’s handball in the box, and Ronaldo confidently dispatched the penalty into the bottom corner in the 81st minute.

Despite their late pressure, with Coman heading wide late on, Al-Nassr could not find an equaliser, and they remain four points behind leaders Al-Hilal in the table.

| نهـاية المواجهة!
النصر 1 – 2 القادسية#النصر_القادسية pic.twitter.com/XTJm8rUoMp

— نادي النصر السعودي (@AlNassrFC) January 8, 2026

Data Debrief: Al-Qadsiah haunt Al-Nassr again

Al-Qadsiah have now won their last four league matches against Al-Nassr, more than they managed in their first 15 meetings with them (W3 D3 L9).

They were clinical in this match as they had just seven attempts on goal throughout, worth 1.76 expected goals (xG), compared to 13 from Al-Nassr (worth 2.27 xG).

Ronaldo, meanwhile, took his goal tally for the season up to 14 goals, while he has had 83 shots so far this season, more than any other player in the Saudi Pro League.