Cristiano Ronaldo In Tears:
Cristiano Ronaldo was left visibly upset after Al-Nassr’s King’s Cup final loss to Al-Hilal, which saw former Liverpool man Sadio Mané miss a golden opportunity to score in normal time
Cristiano Ronaldo was pictured in tears after Al-Nassr fell short in its search for King’s Cup glory. Former Liverpool star Sadio Mané also featured in the final, which was won on penalties by Al-Hilal, who secured the trophy for the second season in a row.
The Senegalese forward had a golden opportunity to fire his side ahead in the opening stages of the game, after he latched on to a neat pass just outside the area but curled his effort over the bar. Ronaldo was waiting in the wings behind him to take control of the situation if Mané had failed to control the ball.
Shortly after the miss, some extra salt would be rubbed in Mane’s wound following his glaring miss. Former Fulham and Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic peeled off to the back post and headed home the opener to give Al-Hilal the lead.
Jorge Jesus’ side looked as if they would cruise to their 11th King’s Cup triumph without a problem for most of the game, especially after David Ospina was sent off by referee Dario Herrera for handling the ball outside his area. Al-Nassr was down to ten men and now faced the obstacle of breaching the best defence in the Saudi Pro League with a numerical disadvantage.
A task that seemed impossible until Ali Albulayhi received his second yellow card of the evening for an unnecessary altercation with one of Ronaldo’s teammates. Al-Nassr would then go on to score from the following passage of play, as Ayman Yahya glanced his header in from a long-range throw-in.
Chaos would soon follow as Albulayhi’s centre-back partner, Kalidou Koulibaly, was also given his marching orders by the match official for a late challenge on substitute goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah. The sides went in level after 90 minutes and with the scoreline remaining the same after extra time, penalties beckoned.
Rúben Neves and Alex Telles both missed at the start of the shoot-out before both teams found their rhythm. Following a key save from Morocco’s World Cup star Bono to keep his side in the tie, responsibility then fell to Meshari Al Nemer to keep Al-Nassr alive. Sadly for the Al-Nassr fanbase and Ronaldo, his effort struck the woodwork and Al-Hilal was crowned champions.
Ronaldo was left visibly upset after losing the final on penalties. Mane could only watch on as a spectator in the shootout after being substituted, and it was clearly a loss that stings for those at Al-Nassr.
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Below are pics of Al-Nassr’s players react in the penalty shootout during the King’s Cup final match between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah.
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