Benzema’s Al-Ittihad extends winning streak after beating Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal wasn’t enough as Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Nassr 2-1 to record a ninth successive win and move five points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League on Friday.

Al-Nassr was fourth, 11 points behind the leader as the league takes a month’s break.

Benzema opened the scoring in the 55th minute, shooting from inside the area after he was picked out by a perfect Muhannad Al-Shanqiti cross from the right.

The home fans in Jeddah were still celebrating when Ronaldo equalized less than two minutes later. The five-time Ballon D’Or winner shot past Predrag Rajkovic from close range to join Benzema on 10 league goals and deny the Serbian goalkeeper a sixth consecutive clean sheet.

Sadio Mane missed his second goal-scoring opportunity for Al-Nassr and the team was punished in injury time.

Steven Bergwijn, the Dutch international signed in September from Ajax, curled a shot into the far corner from the edge of the area to win the game for Al-Ittihad and coach Laurent Blanc.

Al-Qadsia moved above Al-Nassr into third after winning at Al-Kholood 3-0. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half strike was sandwiched by two goals from Mexico’s Julian Quinones.

Defending champion Al-Hilal will reduce Ittihad’s lead to two points if it defeats Al-Raed on Saturday.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer