By scoring twice as Al-Nassr rallied from a goal down to defeat Al-Hilal in the Arab Club Champions Cup, Cristiano Ronaldo finally broke his trophy drought in Saudi Arabia.
It’s Ronaldo’s first piece of hardware in Saudi Arabia since he relocated there in January following his departure from Manchester United.
Six minutes into the second half, Brazilian player Michael scored, putting Al-Nassr behind, and then celebrating with Ronaldo’s ‘SIU’ celebration.
Ronaldo was Al-Nassr’s best player, and he delivered in the clutch once again by scoring the game-tying goal in the 74th minute and the game-winning goal in the 98th minute of extra time.
After оnly 30 minutes оf the new seasоn, Tyrоne Mings was carried оff the field оn a stretcher with a seriоus injury.
Ronaldo scored the game-winning goal with his team down to nine players after the dismissals of Abdulelah Al-Amri and Nawaf Boushal.
After being carried off the field with five minutes left in the second half of extra time, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s smile quickly faded.
Al-Nassr and Rоnaldо must wait tо learn the severity оf his injury befоre Mоnday’s Saudi Prо League оpener against Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq.
Despite two crushing challenges from Al-Hilal defender and former Chelsea bust Kalidou Koulibaly in the first half, Ronaldo’s impact on the game was so significant that Koulibaly was left reeling.
After Koulibaly got a yellow card for a second tackle, other Al-Nassr players had to step in to keep Ronaldo from attacking the center back.
After Al-Nassr’s Anderson Talisca caused a commotion by trying to plant a flag in the field to celebrate their victory in the cup final, tempers flared between the two teams.