Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr lost to rivals Al-Hilal 2-1 in the Saudi Super Cup semi-finals on Monday, April 08. The Portuguese superstar was sent off after a heated clash in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Why Was Cristiano Ronaldo Shown a Red Card in Al Hilal vs Al Nassr?
Former Manchester United and Real Madrid legend was sent off for elbowing an Al-Hilal player in the dying embers of the game. Coming into this game against Al-Hilal, Ronaldo scored six goals in his last three games for Al Nassr.
His frustration began late in the first half when Al Nassr was denied a goal because of the Portugal star. After a pass from the right flank, Ronaldo was in an offside position and tried to play the ball before it made its way to Otavio who scored the goal. After watching the VAR footage, Otavio’s goal no longer counted as Ronaldo made an attempt to play the ball from the offside position.
Ronaldo vehemently disagreed with the referee’s decision and was shown a yellow card because of his protest. In the 86th minute, his night got worse when he lashed out at an Al-Hilal player, elbowing an opponent late in the game when his side was 2-0 down.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner received a red card when he rammed his elbow into Al-Bulayhi’s chest who appeared to square up on the veteran forward. Ronaldo was then seen raising his fist at the referee as if he wanted to punch the ball towards the match official.
Following his dismissal, the 39-year-old forward then sarcastically applauded the officials as he walked off the pitch with a sarcastic shake of his head and thumbs-up.
In the post-match interview, Al Nassr manager Luis Castro came to the defense of the skipper claiming that Ronaldo didn’t do anything that warranted a sending-off.
“It is difficult to talk about the incident in which Ronaldo received the red card, and we saw several clips earlier in the season in which Ronaldo was provoked, and after seeing some of the pictures, Ronaldo did not do anything that deserved to be sent off, and the opposing player acted.”
Al Hilal fans rubbed salt into Ronaldo’s wounds with “Messi” chants as he furiously went inside the tunnel. This will be Ronaldo’s second suspension of the season, after his send-off for obscenity against Al-Shadab earlier this year.
Ronaldo will definitely not look back on Al Nassr’s controversial game against Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia’s Super Cup semi-final once his professional career is over.