Joao Felix scored a hat-trick as Al Nassr beat Al Shabab 4-2 in the Saudi Pro League on Thursday, delivering a fast, decisive start and a nervy finish.
Al Nassr led 2-0 after 10 minutes thanks to Felix’s strikes in the third and tenth minutes; Yannick Carrasco pulled one back for Al Shabab in the 30th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo added a third for Al Nassr in the 75th, Ali Al Bulayhi answered in the 80th, and Felix completed his hat-trick from a stoppage-time penalty.
The scoreline — 4-2 — captured the match’s swings in a handful of numbers: two early goals to set the tone, a late Ronaldo goal that looked to put the game beyond reach, and a last-gasp penalty that sealed the margin. The three Felix goals, including the match’s final kick, were the single player detail that defined the night.
Context matters: before this fixture the preview held Al Nassr top of the league with 79 points and Al Hilal second on 77 with three matchweeks remaining, while Al Shabab were 13th with 32 points and nine points clear of the final relegation spot. The reverse fixture in January also went Al Nassr’s way, ending 3-2, and Al Nassr had won seven of their 10 meetings with Al Shabab before this game.
The clubs arrived with contrasting recent runs. Al Nassr had been unbeaten for 17 top-flight outings before a loss to Al Qadsiah on Sunday ended that run; across those 17 matches they had still scored at least two goals in 12. Al Shabab, by contrast, had won one of their previous six games in all competitions and the preview noted they had drawn four and lost one of their four most recent league fixtures, a sequence that included a heavy 5-1 defeat to Al-Taawoun the Saturday before the matchweek.
The tension in the result comes from those stacked stories: Al Nassr’s scoring consistency and dominance in head-to-heads versus a Shabab side struggling for form. The defeat that snapped Al Nassr’s long unbeaten streak also proved no portent of a collapse here; the team still produced multiple goals and a match-winner. For Al Shabab, the ability to get two goals against a top side will be scant comfort next to a pattern of poor results described in the build-up.
The immediate consequence is clear in the match details: Felix’s early double put the game on his terms, Carrasco’s 30th-minute reply kept Al Shabab in reach, Ronaldo’s 75th-minute strike looked to restore control, Ali Al Bulayhi’s 80th-minute goal made the finish tense, and the stoppage-time penalty completed a hat-trick that decided the outcome.
For Joao Felix, the hat-trick — third minute, tenth minute and stoppage-time penalty — was the match’s defining imprint; for Al Nassr it was another high-scoring day that underlined their attacking depth. Fans checking al shabab fc vs al-nassr standings will find a game whose chronology and goals will shape conversation as the league heads into its final weeks.
