Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr have faced another roadblock to their Saudi Pro League title chase. The Saudi side were recently beaten 3-0 by their derby rivals and league leaders Al Hilal, further widening the gap between them. The loss came shockingly after Al Nassr had dominated very much in their recent games.
Sergej Milinković-Savić scored the opener in the 64th minute, while former Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic scored a brace in the dying minutes to seal a hard-fought victory. And yet, the match was not without some controversial acts.
Luis Castro’s unusual gesture after ref disallows Ronaldo’s goal
Despite a great win by Al Hilal, the game still had many controversial decisions in their favor. One of them was during the second half, when Cristiano Ronaldo had apparently scored a crucial equalizer just before Mitrovic’s brace.
However, the goal was disallowed due to Ronaldo being called offside by VAR for the tightest of margins. This did not sit well with the players and management, who decided to resort to other methods to dispute the offside call.
Al Nassr coach Luis Castro really showed the referee his phone after Cristiano Ronaldo's goal to equalize the match against Al Hilal was disallowed after a VAR check 😅 pic.twitter.com/l2wbH29Cma
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 1, 2023
Al Nassr manager Luis Castro could not believe the goal was being called offside and went to the referee with a phone in hand. He then proceeded to berate the match official with video evidence of the goal, trying to persuade him to allow the goal to stand. However, the referee decided to discount it and uphold the original decision of offside.
The goal could have been crucial for the Riyadh-based club, which may have salvaged a point from the match. As such, it is understandable why the manager decided to resort to such tactics in a high-stakes game. Furthermore, there was an alleged foul on Ronaldo, which could have been a penalty.
Cristiano Ronaldo responds to Messi chants with graceful gesture
Cristiano Ronaldo was also the subject of a controversial action, this time by rival Al Hilal fans. After seeing their team win 3-0 against their hated rivals, the fans took the opportunity to mock Ronaldo, who was leaving the pitch.
Ronaldo’s reaction to the fans chanting “Messi” 😭 pic.twitter.com/YK3KYARQV2
— W (@_common_W_) December 1, 2023
The fans decided to chant the name of Ronaldo’s eternal rival Lionel Messi several times. This was obviously done with the motive to mock and provoke the five time Ballon d’Or winner. But Ronaldo decided to take it with grace, and only smiled and appeared to give flying kisses to the crowd chanting.
Ronaldo also proved his maturity and sportsmanship in the last match against Persepolis where he admitted that he wasn’t fouled to the referee, which would have earned him a penalty.
Al-Nassr is currently in 2nd place in the league, 7 points behind Al Hilal. They will now focus elsewhere, as they have to face Istiklol in the AFC Champions League on Monday.
