Aymeric Laporte rescued a late 1-0 victory for Al-Nassr against Damac on Friday evening as Cristiano Ronaldo was made to make his introduction from the bench.
Ronaldo was the surprise omission from the starting line-up after scoring back-to-back hat-tricks in Al-Nassr's previous victories, putting the Portuguese top of the Saudi Pro League's golden boot race.
Former Liverpool and Bayern Munich star Sadio Mane was also left on the bench ahead of Al-Nassr's the upcoming Saudi Super Cup semi-final against league leaders Al-Hilal.
Ronaldo went close to giving the visitor's the lead in the 85th minute after rounding the goalkeeper and toe-poking his effort towards goal before watching a defender agonisingly scoop the shot off the line.