Al Nassr dropped crucial points in the defence of their Saudi Pro League title as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Al Khaleej on Saturday night.
Omar Mascarell gave the hosts the lead on the stroke of half-time and the champions needed a 72nd-minute goal from Abdullah Al Hamdan to salvage a point.
Cristiano Ronaldo played the full 90 minutes but could not add to his career tally of 979 strikes as he closes in on the 1,000-goal mark.
The Portuguese striker, 41, will hope for better luck on Tuesday night when he travels to the UAE with Al Nassr for an Asian Champions League tie against Al Ain.
Nassr boss Ange Postecoglou said: “It was a difficult match, and we expected it to be, especially after Al Khaleej took the lead. We tried to get ourselves back into the game and scored the equaliser, then tried to win it. We came away with a point, and I’m certainly not comfortable with the result.”
The Australian blamed fixture congestion, with the early stages of the SPL condensed to accommodate the Asian Cup, which takes place in January.
“I think everyone is exhausted,” he said. “Even Al Hilal lost to Neom, so the fixture congestion is what is exhausting us. We're talking about around eight matches in less than a month.”
Meanwhile, Al Hilal's new signings delivered as they won 6-0 at Al Taawoun. Gabriel Martinelli struck a hat-trick and Ollie Watkins a brace, while Sultan Mandash added a sixth midway through the second half.
Hilal were bouncing back from a surprise 2-0 defeat to Neom, and once again fielded their brand new trio of Premier League signings up front with Crysencio Summerville, Watkins and Martinelli combining well.
Former Arsenal man Martinelli grabbed his first goals in Saudi football, much to the delight of manager Simone Inzaghi.
He said: “[Martinelli] is delivering high levels and great performance, and he arrived just one day before the Neom match, yet he showed well, and today he was more ready and succeeded in scoring the hat-trick.”
The win took Hilal back to the top of the SPL table on 18 points, one ahead of Al Ittihad and two ahead of Al Nassr.
Al Hilal host Al Gharafa in ACL action on Tuesday night.
