Al-Hilal made it a treble in the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League season as they saw off Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr to clinch the 2024 Saudi King’s Cup trophy.
It was a fever-pitch clash flustered with all the intrigues of typical domestic rivalries. The nervy and tension-soaked clash saw both sides end the game with 8 men with six red cards apiece.
2022 World Cup semifinalist and Europa League winner with Sevilla Yaccine Bounou hogged the headlines for heroic goalkeeping that kept Al-Hilal in the game.
The spotlight was also on Cristiano Ronaldo, whose sensational individual campaign, has yet to translate into club success for the Riyadh-based outfit.
Former Fulham forward and Serbia striker Aleksander Mitrovic was the nightmare for the Ronaldo-captained side. He scored seven minutes into the game to give Al-Hilal the lead.
A scissor-edged Al-Nassr attacking arsenal led by Cristiano Ronaldo made several attempts to find an equaliser but were constantly denied by Bounou.
Cristiano Ronaldo hit the woodwork himself with an incredible bicycle kick but it was not enough to chalk off the narrow 1-0 deficit. With two minutes left to the regulation time, Al-Dawsari came to Al-Nassr’s rescue, scoring the equaliser to force the game into extra time.
Both sides failed to find the back of the net after 120 minutes and settled for shootouts to decide the winner.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his spot kick but misses by Alex Telles and Al-Hassan were enough to hand Al-Hilal a 5-4 victory with the latter winning third trophy of the campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo was inconsolable after the loss. He broke down in tears after the shootouts. The Portuguese star is yet to win his first major domestic trophy with Al-Nassr despite a brilliant individual campaign.
