Cristiano Ronaldo started his first game of the season on Tuesday, but the Al Nassr captain was subbed off with his team trailing 2-0 at Al Ettifaq before staging a late comeback win.
Ronaldo, 41, was named to spearhead an attack also boasting Sadio Mane, Joao Felix and Kinglsey Coman, but the Saudi Pro League title-holders were a man down following a red card shown to goalkeeper Bento and trailed at half-time to goals from Ondrej Duda and Alvaro Medran.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on the pitch for the restart, but saw his number held up in the 46th minute, indicating he was to be replaced by Abdullah Al Khaibari. He snubbed the Nassr bench as he left the pitch.
The change paid dividends, with Mane scoring twice in the final 17 minutes to earn a 3-2 victory for the Riyadh club.
Nassr boss Ange Postecoglou explained the decision to swap out his captain: "When I made the substitutions, including taking Ronaldo off, I believed the players coming on could make an impact.
"I came here to help the players, so as I said, Iām proud of them because every substitute made a positive contribution.ā
He added: "I'm here to help the team with what I see, and everyone knows that Ronaldo hasn't played in a long time. He performed exceptionally well in the first half, and we opted for a different approach. My credit goes entirely to the players who delivered a fantastic performance in these conditions."
The match got off to a calamitous start for the visitors when Bento was shown a straight red card in the 12th minute, after halting an Al Ettifaq goal-scoring opportunity outside the box.
Abdulrahman Al Otaibi was brought on to deputise, and the Saudi was badly at fault for both Ettifaq goals.
First, Duda picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box. The Slovakian shifted the ball to his right and hit a shot from range that Al Otaibi misjudged and could only help the ball on its way into the net.
Ettifaq doubled their lead in first-half injury time when Medran hit another long-range effort that went through Al Otaibi's hands as he attempted to push the ball away.
Mane sparked the comeback with a goal on 74 minutes, getting on the end of a wonderfully weighted pass from Joao Felix before shooting low past Turki Baaljawsh.
Joao Felix registered another assist as Abdulelah Al Amri rose highest to head in the Portuguese playmaker's inswinging corner three minutes later.
The Ettifaq defence were caught napping in the closing stages, allowing Senegal winger Mane to steal in and grab his second of the match and the goal that settled the game in Nassr's favour.
Victory made it three wins from as many league matches to start the season for Nassr, but the main takeaway will be Ronaldo's reaction to being substituted.
