Al-Nassr scored early and often during Thursday’s clash, despite the absence of Ronaldo. The Portuguese icon was left out due to a recent injury, while his longtime rival, Messi, was only named to Miami’s bench due to a recent knock of his own. He came on in the game’s final moments but, by that point, the damage had already been done.
It was a case of “no Ronaldo, no problem” for Al-Nassr, though, as their other stars took charge in what ended as a 6-0 blowout. Otavio scored first, netting just three minutes in, before Brazilian star Anderson Talisca made it two in the 10th minute. The goal of the day, though, was scored by Aymeric Laporte, who chipped Drake Callender from 60 yards on a free kick where Miami were simply caught napping.
Al-Nassr didn’t slow down in the second half, despite several physical scuffles toward the end of the first. Talisca netted his second from the penalty spot just five minutes into that second half before Mohammed Maran made it 5-0 in the 68th minute. Talisca proceeded to make it 6-0 by completing his hat-trick, before doing Ronaldo’s famous celebration to the delight of the home crowd.
Take your pick!
You could give this to just about anyone on Al-Nassr, as there were plenty of standouts for the Saudi Arabian side. Virtually every Al-Nassr player was better than every Inter Miami player. This was pure domination from opening to closing.
We’ll give it to Talisca, though, as he did net a hat-trick. The Brazilian is a player who has the ability to dominate a game, even if he has been out of the European spotlight for some time. Thursday was quite a reminder of how good he can be as he led a dominant Al-Nassr performance.
