Sports Desk, Apr 9 (EFE).- Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for elbowing an opponent defender as Al-Nassr crashed out of the Saudi Arabian Super Cup, losing to arch-rivals Al-Hilal 1-2 in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Al-Hilal will face defending champions Al-Ittihad in the final on Thursday after the latter defeated Al-Wehda 2-1 on the same evening, with Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema ending his long drought for a goal.
The Frenchman, who had not scored in more than 100 days, took advantage of a loose ball in the center of the area to beat Moroccan goalkeeper Munir and put Al-Ittihad on track in just 54 seconds of the game.
Three minutes before the break, Moroccan Abderrazak Hamdallah made it 2-0 for Al-Ittihad before Hussein Al-Eisa added some late excitement for Al-Wehda with a 97th-minute strike soon after his Moroccan teammate Faycal Fajr missed a penalty.
There was no less drama in the clash between Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, in which Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr found itself trailing by 0-2 owing to goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Malcom when he was sent off five minutes before time.
Ronaldo was found elbowing Al-Bulaihi in the fight for the ball to take a quick throw-in and was shown a straight red card.
During the incident, which led to a skirmish between players from both sides, Ronaldo was seen raising his fist towards the referee, potentially inviting more trouble for him.
This was not the first time Ronaldo dragged himself into controversy since moving to Saudi Arabia in 2022.
The former Manchester United star was suspended for one match by Saudi Arabian football authorities in February after he appeared to make an obscene gesture during Al-Nassr’s win over Al-Shabab.
The Portuguese striker has now seen 12 red cards in his otherwise glittering career.
Senegalese forward Sadio Mane, who joined Ronaldo at the Saudi Arabian club from Bayern Munich last season, scored a goal for his side in injury time but could not save the day for Al-Nassr and Ronaldo. EFE
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