Cristiano Ronaldo is still in pursuit of his first domestic trophy in Saudi Arabia after Al Nassr was defeated 4-1 by Al Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup final on Saturday.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner managed to score the opening goal just before halftime in the season opener between Saudi Pro League champions Al Hilal and runners-up Al Nassr. Ronaldo, who joined Al Nassr in December 2022 and set a league record last season with 35 goals, netted from close range in the 44th minute after an assist from Abdulrahman Ghareeb.
However, Ronaldo’s joy was short-lived as Al Hilal scored four times in a 17-minute span during the second half. Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic ignited the scoring spree with a powerful shot 10 minutes after the break, following a series of passes with Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Mitrovic then put Al Hilal ahead with a header from a perfect cross by Rúben Neves, and extended their lead with a strike from a pass by Brazilian Malcom in the 69th minute. Malcom further increased the margin by capitalizing on a mistake by Al Nassr’s goalkeeper Bento, who mishandled a pass from Aymeric Laporte.
Mitrovic commented, “We showed our quality in the second half. We faced some challenges in the first half but adapted well. It’s great to start the season with a trophy.”
Al Hilal secured their second consecutive Super Cup and their fifth overall, making them the most successful team in the competition, three titles ahead of Al Nassr. This defeat adds to Ronaldo and Al Nassr’s recent setbacks, as they were also outperformed by Al Hilal in the Saudi King’s Cup and Saudi Pro League last season.
The new Saudi Pro League season is set to kick off on Thursday, with Al Nassr hosting Al Raed.
Cristiano Ronaldo
This season he played in total 31 times for 2649 minutes for Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 34 goals for Al Nassr. He procured 11 assists. He received 2 yellow cards and no red cards.
His team is currently 2nd in Pro League. In the last match Al Nassr lost 1-0 against Granada.
Al Nassr performance and stats
It will be Al Nassr ended the league in the 2nd position with 77 points.
In the last 34 games, it has won 26 times, drawn 4 times, and lost 4 times. In its last match, Al Nassr won 4-2 against Al Ittihad.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 93 goals and conceding 37.