Cristiano Ronaldo started up front as Al-Nassr travelled to Dammam to face Al-Ettifaq, but the champions were forced into an early reshuffle after goalkeeper Bento was sent off inside the opening quarter of an hour.
Al-Nassr were reduced to 10 men just 12 minutes into their Saudi Pro League clash against Al-Ettifaq on Tuesday, after goalkeeper Bento was shown a straight red card for bringing down Moussa Dembélé outside the box.
Dembélé had collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area when Bento rushed off his line to close him down. With an Al-Nassr defender still tracking back, Bento made contact with the Al-Ettifaq forward outside the area, and referee Mohammed Al-Hoaish had little hesitation in producing the red card.
The dismissal came against the run of early exchanges and forced Ange Postecoglou's side into an immediate change, with a substitute goalkeeper introduced in Bento's place. Al-Nassr, who had named a strong side featuring Cristiano Ronaldo alongside Samú Costa in attack, now had to see out the majority of the match a man light at EGO Stadium.
Postecoglou had made a couple of changes to the team that beat Al-Riyadh 4-0 in the previous round, with Ronaldo restored to the starting line-up and Abdullah Al-Khaibari and Abdullah Al-Hamdan both dropping out. Al-Ettifaq, under new manager Arthur Papas, lined up in a 4-1-4-1 shape with Dembélé leading the line and Rayane Messi, Álvaro Medrán and Ondrej Duda supporting from midfield.
Both sides had arrived at the fixture unbeaten from their opening two matches of the season, with Al-Nassr sitting top of the table on goal difference and Al-Ettifaq in fourth. The match marked an early test for both new head coaches, with Al-Nassr chasing a third straight win of the campaign after victories over Al-Fateh and Al-Riyadh.
With Al-Nassr playing a man down for the bulk of the contest, the red card is likely to shape how the rest of the match unfolds. Further details on the final result are awaited.
