Al-Nassr fans have demanded the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo's teammate Anderson Talisca after his poor performance in their 1-1 draw against Al-Ahli. The two sides locked horns in their Saudi Pro League clash at Al-Awwal Park on Friday, September 13.
The first half remained in the balance with neither side able to finish off their chances. The visitors took the lead when former Barcelona star Franck Kessie found the top-left corner from outside the box in the 57th minute. Talisca had a golden chance to level the scores four minutes later but missed the target from close range.
Al-Nassr's hopes of salvaging a result seemed to be diminishing when new signing Mohamed Simakan limped off with an injury in the 66th minute. Fortunately, for Cristiano Ronaldo and Co., Bassam Mohammed Alhurayji netted an own goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time to make it 1-1.
Talisca had a poor game, creating zero chances, and landing just one shot on target from seven attempts (shot accuracy of 14 percent). The Brazilian also missed one big chance and lost five duels.
One fan reacted on X by questioning Al-Nassr's decision to terminate Alex Telles' contract to register Simakan in their squad over Talisca:
"Well done Al Nassr management for letting this guy stay, they really terminated Telles over him"
Another Al-Nassr fan tweeted:
"Talisca please leave this club for god sake"
Check out how other fans felt about Talisca's performance:
"All clubs have 8 good foreign players from top leagues while Al Nassr waste a spot on Talisca. A guy who has never played in a top 5 league," one fan commented
"If Castro keeps starting Talisca he needs to be sacked," one fan insisted
"Talisca gotta go. I know he is sort of a legend of the club, but nah. Unless he wants to sit on the bench and be a super sub, there's no way he should be on the team over a player like Rabiot unless they decide to play Gabriel in the midfield," another added
"Talisca and Castro, main reason for this team 's weakness," one fan tweeted
"Talisca. Leave the football before the football leaves you," another chimed in
"Shocking performance. Mane & Bento the only players with a half decent performance. Talisca must be benched for one of the new Brazil wingers signed. Talisca takes all the chances from Cristiano Ronaldo every time for 3 seasons now," one posted
"Nothing will change with Talisca on the team," one commented
How did Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr fare in their 1-1 draw against Al-Ahli?
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr's title charge was dealt a massive blow after they were held to a 1-1 draw against Al-Ahli. They have already dropped points twice this season and are sixth in the league table with five points from three games.
Al-Nassr dominated possession with 58 percent of the ball, completing 365 passes with an accuracy of 86 percent. In contrast, Al-Ahli had 42 percent possession and completed 254 passes with an accuracy of 80 percent.
Cristiano Ronaldo's side had more chances in attack as well, landing 19 shots in total with four being on target. They had managed two big chances but missed both, salvaging an xG of 2.05. Meanwhile, Al-Ahli had six shots with four on target (xG of 0.21).