Ronaldo’s Regal Performance Secures King’s Cup Glory for Al-Nassr

Last updated on May 4th, 2024 at 09:15 pm

Cristiano Ronaldo tweeted his delight to his fans after leading Al-Nassr to the King’s Cup final on Wednesday night with a 3-1 win against Al-Khaleej. Ronaldo had scored the first and third goals of the evening when Senegal star Sadio Mane scored the second goal from the penalty spot in the semifinal at Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh.

(To Embed: https://x.com/Cristiano/status/1785768811951509536) 

In the season’s opening King Salman Club Cup (formerly Arab Club Champions Cup) final, Al-Nassr overcame them 2-1 thanks to two goals by Ronaldo.

Al-Hilal won the following two savageries. The Saudi Pro League was won by them 3-0 at King Fahd International Stadium on December 1. They finally prevailed 2-1 over Al-Ittihad in the Diriyah Super Cup quarterfinal in Abu Dhabi on April 8.

Apart from the King’s Cup final, the teams will also play each other in the second SPL match of the season on May 17 at Al-Awwal Park in Riyad.

How the play went down

Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane scored as Al Nassr defeated Al Khaleej 3-1 in the King Cup of Champions semifinal on Saturday at the Al-Awwal Stadium in Riyadh. Al Nassr defeated Al Ittihad in the other semifinal on Tuesday, and on May 31 it will play Al Hilal, the Saudi Super Cup champion and league leader.

(To embed: https://x.com/TheNassrZone/status/1785769081628508196) 

Ronaldo, taking advantage of an error made by the Al Khaleej defenders, gave his team the lead in the seventeenth minute. 

Defender Lisandro Lopez’s bad back pass placed goalie Ibrahim Sehic under pressure, causing him to only haphazardly clear the ball away as far as Ronaldo at the outside of the area. He gave the lead with a left-footed shot into an empty goal.

In the 37th minute, Sadio Mane scored a penalty after Al Khaleej defender Ivo Rodrigues handled the ball inside the penalty area. To go into the break up two goals, Mane easily completed it into the right side of the goal.

Al Khaleej made changes at halftime, but in the 57th minute Ronaldo finished off a low cross at the far post, helped along by Ayman Yahya from the right side of the penalty area.

Goalie Sehic for Al Khaleej made nine saves throughout the game to save his team further humiliation.

After the team had made five substitutes and center-back Mohammed Al Khabrani was pulled off the field in the 77th minute due to injury, things for Al Khaleej worsened as it had to play the remainder of the game with 10 men.

With substitute Fawaz Al-Torais finishing off a lovely cross from the right by Arif Al Haydar in the 82nd minute, it drew one back. But it was too late as Al Nassr easily held onto their advantage to win the match.