Ronaldo's goal, making Al Nassr Arab Club Champions Cup champions
"Ronaldo's goal, making Al Nassr Arab Club Champions Cup champions". Of course, this made Cristiano Ronaldo the star of the victory thanks to his two goals, after beating Al Hilal 2-1 in extra time at King Fahd Stadium.
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| Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with teammates after winning the Arab Club Champions Cup final at King Fahd Stadium, Taif, Saudi Arabia, Aug. 12, 2023 (Photo: Reuters) |
The clash between the two teams has been fierce since the first half began. A tight battle took place in the midfield of the two teams.
Fierce match despite Al Nassr playing with 10 men
Al Nassr, which relies on the trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Talisca, and Sadio Mane, can trouble Al Hilal's defense. On the other hand, Al Hilal tried to take advantage of the speed that Malcom and Michael had.
But both teams could not create goals despite getting some chances until the end of the first half.
Al Hilal opened the lead first through Michael's goal in the 51st minute. This goal started from a quick counterattack and Malcom's cross was able to be horned by Michael to rattle the Al Nassr goal.
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Al Nassr got some golden chances to score after trailing 0-1. But the brilliant performance of Al Hilal goalkeeper, Mohammed Al Owais made the chances obtained by Al Nassr players can be countered.
Al Nassr's equalizer effort was intensified after Abdulelah Al Amri was sent off by the referee in the 71st minute. Al Amri was shown a straight red card for fouling Malcom who was running into the Al Nassr penalty area.
Playing with 10 men, Al Nassr could equalize in the 75th minute. The equalizing goal was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo.
A measured pass from the right side of the attack was easily intercepted by Ronaldo into the Al Hilal goal to make the score 1-1.
Ronaldo then managed to break into the Al Hilal goal for the second time in the 84th minute. But the goal was disallowed because Ronaldo was already in an offside position before the goal occurred.
In the second half of injury time, it was Al Hilal's turn to get a golden opportunity. However, Milinkovic-Savic's header was still on the right side of the Al Nassr goal.
Another opportunity was obtained by Al Hilal through Malcom. His shot was headed towards goal but was thwarted by Nawaf Alaqidi.
Ronaldo was able to put Al Nassr back in front 2-1 in the eighth minute of first-half extra time. Ronaldo's header took advantage of the puke ball from Sekou Fofana's shot which hit the crossbar of Al Hilal.
The match got even fiercer after Al Nassr took a 2-1 lead. It's just that Al Nassr had to lose Ronaldo who suffered an injury in the 112th minute.
CR7 sprawled on the field after a duel with an opposing player. Ronaldo even had to be transported by the medical team's car to the sidelines.
Al Nassr, who were already 2-1 ahead, was able to maintain the lead over Al Hilal to win the Arab Club Champions Cup title.
"Al Hilal Vs Al Nassr" line-up
Al Hilal (4-2-3-1): Al Owais; Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Al Bulaihi, Al Shahrani; Kanno, Neves; Michael, Milinkovic-Savic, Al Dawsari; Malcom
Al Nassr (4-2-3-1): Alaqidi; Al Ghanam, Alawjami, Alamri, Telles; Fofana, Al Khaibari; Talisca, Brozovic, Mane; Ronaldo