A bad few days for Al-Nassr and their star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, became much worse on Monday after a shock 1-0 loss to Al-Wehda in the semi-final of the King Cup.
It means what might have been the Riyadh side’s best remaining chance of some silverware has slipped away, with their league title hopes looking increasingly slim as the season moves into into its final stages.
It was another miserable evening for Ronaldo, who caused some controversy after last week’s loss to bitter Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal when he grabbed his crotch at the end of the game when the gleeful home fans started chanting Lionel Messi’s name.
This time, there was little sign of any mocking at the final whistle, as the visiting players and their fans were too busy celebrating a famous victory and a place in the final against Al-Ittihad. And this time, Ronaldo knew all too well that he had had — and missed — his team’s best chances.
The last time Ronaldo faced these opponents he scored four goals, and Al-Nassr certainly had plenty of the possession on Monday. But Al-Wehda, who have struggled near the bottom of the Roshn Saudi League all season, worked hard, especially after they were reduced to 10 men early in the second half.
The game started positively for the hosts but, somehow, Ronaldo missed his chance to open the scoring early in the game. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner got on the end of a perfect, left-sided cross from Ghislain Konan but shot straight at goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi from the edge of the six-yard box
Ronaldo’s frustration, and that of the home fans, grew when Al-Wehda took the lead, in some style, midway through the first half. A corner was not cleared sufficiently well by the Yellows and a series of headers led to Oscar Duarte finding Jean-David Beauguel. The Frenchman still had a lot of work to do, with the ball at shoulder height, but he threw himself into the air to twist and volley home, his effort taking goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi by surprise.
It was a fine goal and inevitably it prompted a response from the favorites, driven on by the vocal Ronaldo who was constantly gesturing to his teammates and the match officials. A tough half of football ended with Ali Al-Hassan shooting just wide from the right side of the area. It was no surprise that Ronaldo could be seen shaking his head as he left the pitch.
Nine minutes after the restart Al-Wehda were reduced to 10 men as Abdullah Al-Hafith received a second yellow for bringing down Ronaldo just outside the area. The Portuguese star stepped up to take the free kick but sent it just over the bar.
The pressure from the hosts intensified and it seemed to be just a matter of time before Al-Nassr scored. Just after the hour, Al-Hassan and Abdulrahman Ghareeb both shot narrowly wide from good positions.
By now, Al-Wehda were sitting deep and getting everyone behind the ball in an attempt to protect their narrow lead, which was very nearly wiped out by Ronaldo with eight minutes remaining. A Ghareeb cross from the left found its way to the star just outside the six-yard box, and the former Real Madrid megastar twisted to fire a shot that beat Munir but not the woodwork, as it bounced off the crossbar. As the 38-year-old sank to his knees in despair and disbelief, it looked as if it was all over.
Not quite, however. There were as many as four, admittedly weak, penalty claims that were not given after checks by the video assistant referee. But there was always likely to be at least one more chance on goal and sure enough, in the 97th minute, Ronaldo reached a floated free-kick before Munir and headed the ball into the path of Luiz Gustavo, whose header was cleared off the line by Duarte.
And that was that. At the end, Ronaldo was not the only one shaking his head and looking to the heavens for answers. The fact is that his ambitious team have lost two and drawn one of their past three games and need to return to winning ways very quickly if a 10th league title is going to be at all possible.
Al-Wehda will not mind too much if most of the post-match attention focuses more on the team that lost; they will be delighted simply to have a chance to win the King’s Cup for the first time since 1966.