Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring as Al Nassr defeated Al Ettifaq 3-0 and gave Stefano Pioli victory in his first game as coach of the Saudi Arabian club on Friday.
The Italian, who led AC Milan to the Serie A title in 2022, was appointed on Wednesday to succeed Luis Castro. The Portuguese coach was dismissed the previous day due to Al Nassr’s slow start to the season with just one win in three Saudi Pro League games.
Ronaldo, who missed Al Nassr’s 1-1 draw in the AFC Champions League Elite with Al Shorta of Iraq on Monday due to a viral infection, fired home from the penalty spot after 33 minutes for his third goal of the season.
In the second half, Salem Al-Najdi and Anderson Talisca added to the scoreline.
The defeat was the first this season for Al Ettifaq but the team coached by Steven Gerrard stayed third. Al Nassr moved to fourth.
Al Ahli was in fifth spot after two goals from Ivan Toney helped the Jeddah club beat Damac 4-2.
Toney, signed from English Premier League club Brentford in August, made the opener for Gabri Veiga before scoring his first goals since the move to Saudi.
Former Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino scored the other.
Al Hilal and Al Ittihad are first and second in the standings and meet on Saturday.
The 58-year-old Pioli also took Milan to the last four of the Champions League in 2023 before leaving the club in May.
Castro was fired after a slow start to the season with just one win in three league games. In April 2023, coach Rudi Garcia left Al-Nassr after failing to secure first place despite Ronaldo’s arrival four months prior.
