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Al-Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo‘s team, saw their chances of winning the Saudi Pro League title diminished by a 1-1 draw against Al-Khaleej at home, while league leaders Al-Ittihad increased their lead after thrashing Abha 4-0. It was a frustrating night for Ronaldo, who ended up shoving a member of the visitors’ backroom staff for trying to take a selfie.
لاعبو الخليج والطاقم الفني مع رونالدو بعد نهاية المواجهة#النصر_الخليج | #SSC pic.twitter.com/pNKavYReqU
— شركة الرياضة السعودية SSC (@ssc_sports) May 8, 2023
The Match
Al-Nassr is currently behind Al-Ittihad, casting serious doubt on its title chances. Al-Nassr will still have a chance to narrow the gap in the season’s remaining games despite the setback.
In the fourth minute of the match at the Al-Awwal Park stadium in Riyadh, the away team, Al-Khaleej, scored to put Al-Nassr behind. With the help of a header from Fabio Martins, Al-Khaleej took the lead. Alvaro Gonzalez, a Spanish center-back for Al-Nassr, scored the equalizer in the 17th minute to give his team the advantage.
Al-Nassr‘s lackluster performance, however, came next. The home team struggled against the 14th-ranked relegation-threatened team as a result of a poor performance that failed to take advantage of a missed opportunity.
After the break, Ronaldo and Talisca both had opportunities to give the home team the lead, but Marwan Al-Haidari of Al-Khaleej made a series of crucial saves to prevent both of them.
Ronaldo’s Controversy
Ronaldo pushed away Al-Khaleej’s backroom staff member who tried to take a selfie as he left the pitch moments after Al-Nassr’s disappointing 1-1 draw that dented their title hopes. The Portuguese football legend was extremely frustrated after he had a goal ruled out for offside during the game, and his team find themselves five points adrift of leaders Al-Ittihad.
With 57 points in 26 games, Al-Nassr, which has only won once in its last four games, is still in second place, five points behind Al-Ittihad.
With four games remaining, the Al-Ittihad club has 62 points and is still in the lead. The Jeddah club also has the advantage in the season’s head-to-head record between the two teams.
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