With the game meandering to an end and Al Nassr trailing at the time 2-0 to arch rivals Al Hilal, Cristiano Ronaldo lashed out at ‘Blue Waves’ defender Ali Hadi Mohammed Al-Bulaihi and was sent off for his action leaving his side with ten men in the Saudi Super Cup semi-final.
It had been a frustrating evening for Al Nassr and Ronaldo was far from his best with the veteran striker missing a series of chances with his side second best to an Al Hilal side that have looking utterly dominating all season in Saudi Arabia and beyond.
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The red card was the culmination and explosion of a frustrated ‘CR7′ as Portugal’s record scorer was shown a straight red card four minutes from time for elbowing the Al Hilal defender. After being awarded the straight red, the Nassr striker raises his fist in a gesture of defiance at the match official and this, added to the sending off will no doubt lead to both a fine and a ban for the forward.
Despite a late Sadio Mane goal, Al-Hilal cruised into the Super Cup final following Salem Al-Dawsari’s opener just after the hour mark before Brazilian forward Malcolm doubled the lead in the 72nd with a fine header as the striker found himself unmarked in Al Nassr box.
Al-Hilal will seek a record-extending fourth title in Thursday’s final when they face Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad, who beat Al-Wehda 2-1 in the earlier semi-final on Monday.
Ronaldo racks up a dozen reds
Before tonight’s match, the Portuguese striker had been sent off 11 times in his long and decorated career with the red in Abu Dhabi, the Portugal star’s first ever dismissal in an Al Nassr jersey.
The sending off also marks Ronaldo’s first dismissal since 2018 when he made his debut with Juventus in the Champions League and was shown a straight red against Valencia after an altercation with Jeison Murillo.
In his first spell with Manchester United, CR7 was awarded his marching orders on four occasions all coming in Premier League games (against Aston Villa, Portsmouth and Man City twice). In his time with Real Madrid, the striker form Madeira was dismissed in four LaLiga clashes and also saw red in a Copa del Rey clash against Atletico in 2013. His last red card for ‘Los Blancos’ came in the 2017 Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona.
