Former Wolves and Tottenham manager, Nuno Espirito Santos, has led Al-Ittihad to their first Saudi Pro League title in nine years at the expense of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
The Saudi Pro League title race was a two-horse between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad.
With a game left to the end of the season, Al-Nassr surrendered the Saudi Pro League title on a platter to Al-Ittihad following a disappointing 1-1 draw with Al Etiffaq.
The Saudi Pro League title hopefuls needed a win against Al Etiffaq to stay put on the title race till the final matchday after Al-Ittihad defeated Al Feiha 3-0 to extend the lead on the table on Saturday.
The Cristiano Ronaldo-led team are now five points adrift of Al-Ittihad before heading into the final matchday.
Hence, Al-Ittihad were crowned champions after Al-Nassr drew Al Etiffaq in what turned out to be another frustrating game for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Youssoufou Niakate opened the scoring for Al Etiffaq before the half time break. 11 minute into the second half, Luis Gustavo came to the rescue of Al-Nassr, scoring to level the scores.
Ronaldo failed to find the back of the net and was left frustrated. The Portuguese all-time top-scorer failed to produce one of his magic moments to grab a winner for the home side.
In the 84th minute, he was substituted as Al Etiffaq salvaged a draw to dent Al-Nassr title hopes.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now spent his first season with Al-Nassr without winning a single trophy for the club after his multi-million dollar move.
Al-Nassr were eliminated from Saudi Super Cup and Kings Cup before losing the Saudi Pro League top spot to Al-Ittihad.
Despite a disappointing first season with the club, Cristiano scored 14 goals with 2 assists in 16 appearances for the club. He is fifth on the top scorers’ chart this season.
The Manchester United and Real Madrid legend joined Al-Nassr midway through the season when the club was top of the Saudi Pro League table.
A series of dismal performances saw the team lose the top spot to Al-Ittihad who are now champions.
Nuno Espirito Santos leads Al-Ittihad to first Saudi Pro League title in 14 years
Al-Ittihad last won the Saudi Pro League title in 2009 but were close to clinching the trophy last season, losing in the final matchday.
Now, Espirito Nuno Santos has led the team to their first Saudi Pro League title in over a decade.
Nuno Espirito Santos was sacked as Tottenham manager in November 2021 after just four months in-charge following a series of poor results.
On June 4, 2022 he took over the Al-Ittihad job. The Portuguese has recorded the highest win percentage throughout his managerial career with Al-Ittihad.
He has taken charge of 34 games, winning 23, drawing 8, and losing 3 with a win percentage of 67.65%.
The 2022/23 Saudi Pro League title is his third trophy as manager and second trophy with Al-Ittihad.
Nuno Espirito Santos won the Championships with Wolves in 2018, and the 2022 Saudi Super Cup with Al-Ittihad, and now the Saudi Pro League.
