In the Saudi Super Cup semifinal on Tuesday in the Hong Kong stadium, Al Nassr defeated Al Ittihad 2-1 to reach the 2025 final game.
While Steven Bergwijn scored for Ittihad, Sadio Mane and Joao Felix were on the scoresheet for the winner.
Having won the Saudi Super Cup twice in 2019 and 2020 and placed second in 2014, 2015, and 2024, this will be Al Nassr’s sixth appearance in the final battle.
Al Nassr edges Al Ittihad 2-1 to secure spot in 2025 Saudi Super Cup Final
In the tenth minute, Mane’s thunderous volley met Marcelo Brozovic’s cross to break the tie and give Nassr the lead. The ball drifted past the line after smearing Ittihad goalie Hamed Al-Shanqiti’s gloves.
Just after six minutes, Steven Bergwijn regained parity by turning in Moussa Diaby’s cutback. Following Mane’s red card for a vicious tackle on goalie Al-Shanqiti, Ittihad was given the advantage.
The more efficient team after the interval was Al Nassr, even though they were down one player.
Nassr seized the lead for the second time the game after an on-field call that had declared Cristiano Ronaldo offside was overturned following a VAR review.
The Nassr captain was passed through on goal before deciding to square it to his countryman Joao Felix, who only needed to touch it into the net.
Felix believed he had scored his second goal of the evening a few minutes later, but VAR disallowed the goal this time when Ronaldo was spotted fouling Fabinho during the build-up.
On Wednesday, Al Nassr will clash with the winner of the other semifinal between Al Qadisiyah and Al Ahli Saudi.