Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted, Al Nassr rallied to secure victory while playing with 10 players.

Cristiano Ronaldo only played one full half when Al Nassr faced Al Ettifaq for the third matchweek of the Saudi Pro League, held at Abdullah Al Dabil Stadium in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, early Wednesday 26 August WIB. Manager Ange Postecoglou's decision to substitute Ronaldo proved to be the correct call.

Al Nassr pulled off a dramatic turnaround to secure a 3-2 victory, having fallen two goals behind and been reduced to 10 players from the very early stages of the fixture.

Ronaldo was named in Postecoglou's starting lineup, but the match quickly unfolded completely outside Al Nassr's pre-match plans.

Bento Shown Red Card, Al Nassr Lose Their Starting Goalkeeper

Disaster struck in the 12th minute when goalkeeper Bento Krepski was sent off for a foul on Moussa Dembele.

Al Nassr were forced into an emergency early change. Postecoglou withdrew midfielder Angelo Gabriel to bring on backup goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al Otaibi between the sticks.

This adjustment left Al Nassr playing the vast majority of the match at a one-man disadvantage, as Al Ettifaq began mounting heavy attacking pressure.

Ondrej Duda opened the scoring for the home side in the 31st minute. Before the half time break, Alvaro Medran extended Al Nassr's deficit with a second goal.

Al Ettifaq closed out the first half holding a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Ronaldo Substituted At Half Time

Ronaldo had created several goalscoring chances during the opening half. Despite this, Postecoglou opted not to keep the veteran star on the pitch for the second period.

As the second half kicked off, Ronaldo was replaced by Abdullah Al Khaibari.

This decision reshaped Al Nassr's on-pitch structure. The away side began pushing to close the deficit, even while operating with the major handicap of being a player down.

Sadio Mane found the back of Al Ettifaq's net in the 53rd minute, but the goal was ruled out, leaving the score unchanged at 2-0.

This setback did not break Al Nassr's resolve.

Sadio Mane Leads Al Nassr Comeback

Al Nassr's fightback began in the 74th minute. Sadio Mane converted a delivery from Joao Felix to pull one goal back, bringing the score to 1-2.

This goal reignited confidence within the Al Alamydi squad heading into the closing stages of the match.

Three minutes later, Al Nassr struck again. Joao Felix delivered a corner kick which was headed home by Abdulelah Al Alri, levelling the scoreline at 2-2.

In just a matter of minutes, Al Nassr had completely erased their two goal deficit despite playing with 10 men.

The drama was far from over.

Just as the match looked set to end in a draw, Mane produced another decisive moment. He scored the winning goal for Al Nassr right in the final minutes of regular time.

The goal sparked temporary tension following an initial offside flag, but VAR review confirmed Mane was not in an illegal position before finishing the chance.

Al Nassr completed their remarkable comeback with a final 3-2 victory.

Al Nassr Remain At The Top Of The Table

This dramatic win secures Al Nassr's position at the summit of the Saudi Pro League standings.

Postecoglou's side have collected 9 points, holding a two point lead over second placed Al Ittihad.

For Ronaldo, his involvement in the match ended after just 45 minutes. Yet after their captain left the pitch, Al Nassr went on to pull off one of the most dramatic comebacks of this early Saudi Pro League season.

Being reduced to 10 men as early as the 12th minute, trailing 0-2 at half time, and removing Ronaldo at the break was still not enough to stop Al Nassr.