Cristiano Ronaldo is enjoying his second season with Al-Nassr, benefiting from a complete pre-season. The former United forward joined the Saudi Arabian outfit after his contract with the English club was terminated and endured a difficult first season in a league with less quality than what the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was used to in Europe.
However, with 43 goals for club and country in 2023, Ronaldo has returned to form. This run was threatened by supposed poor refereeing as Al-Nassr struggled to see off Al-Ettifaq in the King Cup of Champions, with Ronaldo signaling for the referee to be subbed off.
Cristiano Ronaldo signals to replace the referee
Cristiano Ronaldo is flying in the Saudi Pro League this season. The Portuguese forward tops the goalscoring chart with 11 goals and 6 assists in 11 games for Al-Nassr, making him the league’s most prolific forward and playmaker. However, his form was disrupted in the King Cup of Champions game against Al-Ettifaq yesterday, as he was left frustrated by a poor refereeing performance.
Each team saw a player sent off in the game, with Al-Ettifaq’s Ali Hazazi seeing the second of the game in the 89th minute after Al-Nassr’s Talisca was given the marching order in the additional time of the first half. The red cards were the highlight of a poor refereeing performance, which saw Cristiano Ronaldo signal to the bench for the referee to be subbed off.
Al-Nassr thought Talisca had given them the lead in the first half. However, a VAR check ruled out the goal, adjudging Ronaldo to be offside when the ball was in play. Talisca’s red card came moments after seeing his goal disallowed when a foul on an Al-Ettifaq player was deemed rough enough to be a sending-off offense after an initial yellow card was handed out.
Sadio Mane’s goal clinches victory for Al-Nassr
Al-Nassr had the last laugh despite the early decisions that went against them in the first half. Al-Ettifaq also saw red in the closing minutes of regular time before Sadio Mane clinched the win for Al-Nassr three minutes before the end of the second half of extra time.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who had reacted to a video criticizing Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or win, was largely taunted by the Al-Ettifaq fans, who kept chanting “Lionel Messi” every time Cristiano Ronaldo had the ball.
Sadio Mane celebrated his goal with Cristiano Ronaldo as they both signaled to the opposition crowd to “keep quiet.” This was not the first time opposition fans would taunt Cristiano Ronaldo with Messi’s chant, but his reaction was almost inevitable this time.
Despite the taunting from the opposition fans, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has seen a fair share of support in the GOAT debate recently, as Tyson Fury declared Ronaldo the best to ever play the game before his big fight against Francis Ngannou last Saturday.
Can Cristiano Ronaldo lead Al-Nassr to the Saudi Pro League title this season? Drop your predictions in the comments section below!
