The Saudi Arabian King’s Cup final between Al Hilal and Al Nassr descended into chaos – with three red cards in the final 30 minutes of the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr are looking to secure their first trophy of the season after missing out on the Saudi Pro League title to their opposition.
And it looked like they would miss out on another trophy when Aleksandar Mitrovic put Al Hilal ahead on seven minutes.
There was then a brief injury scare for Ronaldo, who collided with goalkeeper Bono before appearing to get his boot caught in the turf.
Fortunately, the Portugal captain was able to carry on – although the sight of the 38-year-old down on the turf will have shaken his home country’s fans ahead of Euro 2024.
Both sides got to half-time at 1-0 – but the chaos started shortly after the break.
Al Nassr goalkeeper David Ospina was shown a red card for diving at the feet of Al Hilal’s Malcom and handling the ball – while comfortably outside of his penalty area.
Defender Ali Al Bulayhi then received a second yellow card for Al Hilal, with Ayman Yahya scoring a dramatic 88th-minute equaliser seconds later.
Former Chelsea star Kalidou Koulibaly then took Al Hilal to nine men, being shown a second yellow card for bizarrely colliding with the head of Al Nassr substitute goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah.
Before the match, Ronaldo received his Golden Boot for finishing as the top scorer in the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League.
In 2023, he was the highest scorer in any major top division European league, beating the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane.
After learning of that particular honour in December, he said: “I’m really proud. I will continue, I feel good, I feel happy.
“Next year, I will try to do it again.”
More to follow…
Featured Image Credit: SSC
Topics: Al Nassr, Saudi Pro League, Kalidou Koulibaly, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, Saudi Arabia
