Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait a little longer for his first major trophy in Saudi Arabia after Al Nassr were held to a draw by Al Hilal on Tuesday night.
The Portugal great had been moments away from celebrating the Saudi Pro League title, before an extraordinary howler by Bento, Nassr’s goalkeeper.
The home team had appeared comfortable as they held the lead after Mohamed Simakan’s first-half goal.
They were in the process of closing out the win which would have given them an eight-point lead at the top of the table. With two games remaining, that would have given them the title.
All they had to do was defend a long throw late into stoppage time at the end of the game. As the ball was hoisted into their box, Bento inexplicably let it slip through his fingers and across the line, despite an absence of any pressure from Hilal attackers.
It left a pulsating crowd at Al Awwal Park stunned, and Ronaldo sat with a rueful grin on the bench, having been substituted shortly before.
All is far from lost for Nassr. If they win their one remaining fixture, against lowly Damac, they will be confirmed as champions.
If they lose, then Hilal can beat them to the title by winning their two remaining games, against Neom and Al Fahya.
And Ronaldo could well have tasted success before then anyway. Nassr have the final of the AFC Champions League Two at the same venue on Saturday, when they host Japan’s Gamba Osaka.
Even though they remain in the driving seat, Nassr would have preferred their coronation to come against their fierce city rivals.
Other than the overriding narrative of the title race, there were a number of subplots to the Riyadh derby. Chief among them was the clash of two celebrated former Real Madrid teammates.
Karim Benzema’s switch from Al Ittihad – the outgoing champions – to Hilal in the winter transfer window had been the source of controversy. It even briefly sparked Ronaldo to go on strike at Nassr.
Benzema had his chances in the showdown at Al Awwal Park, but was a long way short of his best. As early as the fourth minute, he should have scored but was too casual with just Bento, the Nassr goalkeeper, to beat.
Mohammed Kanno’s through ball set Malcom away down the left wing, and he played a first-time cross to Benzema. The French striker fired at the goalkeeper when the goal was at his mercy.
Ronaldo appeared to have passed up a similarly good chance shortly after, but he was flagged for offside from Marcelo Brozovic’s pass.
In the 18th minute, Benzema did have the ball in the net, but it was chalked off when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was ruled offside before playing the cross.
The video assistant referee looked at it, presumably to see if the ball had reached Milinkovic-Savic via the toe of Nassr’s midfielder Brozovic.
But the decision was upheld, as it had clearly reached the Serbian from Salem Al Dawsari, the Hilal captain, instead.
Hilal were the dominant force at that stage, but they found themselves behind on 37 minutes when Simakan drilled in the opener after some head tennis at a corner.
It sparked a momentum swing. Almost immediately after, Yassine Bounou had to be at his best to palm away a fine strike from distance by Ronaldo.
Kingsley Coman should have doubled Nassr’s lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half. He was presented with a free run on goal by a sloppy pass from Milinkovic-Savic, but wasted it by shooting against the post.
With a goal advantage, Nassr capably stifled their visitors in the second half. Their ascendancy showed as Benzema was substituted in the 68th minute.
It might have seemed like a slight by manager Simone Inzaghi, but it was hard to argue with the decision based on the former France forward’s performance. He was poor.
Ronaldo also took his leave before the end. But when he was substituted, with eight minutes of the 90 still to play, it felt like a triumphant curtain call.
As he went off, he waved his arms to raise the crowd in celebration. They responded with a huge roar.
The noise barely let up in the time that followed, all until Bento’s error right at the death.
