"Learnt from Cristiano Ronaldo", "Better than Neymar" - Fans laud Al-Nassr star's performance in 3-2 win over Al-Duhail
Fans hailed Cristiano Ronaldo's teammate Anderson Talisca after his sensational hat-trick, which inspired Al-Nassr to a 3-2 win against Al-Duhail in the AFC Champions League away from home on Tuesday, November 7.
Phillipe Coutinho gave Al-Duhail an early lead in the eighth minute with a brilliant, low finish into the bottom-right corner. In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was rested, Talisca leveled the scores with a long-range shot in the 27th minute.
The Brazilian star again netted 10 minutes later with a similar goal, burying his effort into the bottom-right corner from a considerable range. Talisca completed his hat-trick in the 65th minute with a great finish from Abdulrahman Ghareeb's cross.
Despite Coutinho scoring a penalty in the 80th minute, Al-Nassr were able to hold onto their lead to secure all three points. They remain flawless in Group E of the AFC Champions League with 12 points from four games.
Al-Nassr fans waxed lyrical about Anderson Talisca. The 29-year-old had a pass accuracy of 88%, scored a hat-trick from four shots, and had a 100% successful dribbling and long ball rate.
One fan posted on X (formerly Twitter), claiming he learned from Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo:
"Talisca hattrick. Learnt from Cristiano Ronaldo."
Another fan claimed Talisca was better than Neymar:
"Talisca is better than Neymar, but it is unfair to recall Neymar and leave Talisca."
Talisca has now overtaken Ronaldo statistically this season, scoring 17 goals and providing two assists in 13 appearances across all competitions. In contrast, the Portugal icon has netted 15 goals and registered nine assists in 16 games.
Al-Duhail vs Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr: Exploring the stats from AFC Champions League clash
Despite resting Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr were able to secure a thrilling 3-2 win against Al-Duhail in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.
Luis Castro's men dominated possession with 61 percent of the ball. They also completed a total of 573 passes with an accuracy of 90 percent. In contrast, Al-Duhail had 39 percent possession and registered 365 passes with an accuracy of 84 percent.
It was an open-ended clash with both clubs enjoying their fair share of chances. The Knights of Najd did look more threatening in attack though, landing a total of 12 shots with six of them on target. On the other hand, Al-Duhail had 13 shots in total with three being on target.