An unnerved Cristiano Ronaldo nearly punched the center-referee after he saw a straight red card for elbowing his opponent Ali Abulayhi during Saudi Super Cup defeat to arch-rivals Al-Hilal.
The knights of Najd have sunk below the Blue Waves since they edged out the runaway league leaders in the Arab Club Champions Cup to win the trophy.
Since the Arab Club Champions Cup triumph, Ronaldo’s hopes of adding another silverware to his kit at Al-Nassr have been in tatters this season despite his brilliant individual campaign.
They are 12 points behind Al-Hilal and had lost a title-deciding clash by three unreplied goals to the arch-rivals. They also crashed out of the AFC Champions League.
On the back of dwindling fortunes on the domestic and continental scene, a win in the Saudi Super Cup semifinal clash against Al-Hilal would have been a soothing balm, revenging their capitulation in the SPL title race and drawing them close to a silverware. But it was another nightmare for the 2022/23 SPL runners-up as goals from Al Dawsari and Malcom saw Al-Hilal race into a 2-0 lead.
After the two-goal lead, the game took on a more frantic and confrontational pace as Al-Nassr ramped up attempts to find an equaliser, and possibly pull a comeback.
In the 85th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo clashed with Ali Albulayhi after the latter appeared to block him from quickly getting the ball back to play through throw-in.
Trying to get him off his way, the pair found themselves in a quick but intense tussle. Things spilled out of control when Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to elbow Abulayhi, who plunged to the ground and rolled agonizingly.
Players from both sides rushed to the scene and it nearly descended into a full-blown brawl. A few seconds later, calm was restored but Cristiano Ronaldo was issued with a straight red for his role in the fallout.
At the instance of the red card, a furious Ronaldo nearly punched the referee before he instinctively withheld himself.
He took a few seconds apparently discussing the red card with a second official before he walked off the pitch.
Down to 10 men, Al-Nassr’s comeback hopes was quashed but former Liverpool and Senegalese forward Sadio Mane was able to nail home a stoppage-time consolation strike to make it 2-1.
It was a double jeopardy for the Luis Castro-led side as they crashed out of the Super Cup, and lost Cristiano Ronaldo as well.
Al-Nassr’s only hope of silverware now lies in the King Cup of Champions where they will take on Al-Khaleej on May 1, 2024.
