Al Nassr are out of the Saudi King Cup of Champions after a 1-0 loss to a 10-man Al-Wehda side in the semifinals on Monday night.
Jean-David Beauguel scored for Al-Wheda in the 23rd minute with the game’s only goal and Abdullah Al-Hafith was sent off early in the second half with a second yellow card offence.
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Despite needing only a goal and being up a man for the last 40 minutes of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr could not find the back of the net.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United player saw his only shot on the night — a close-range effort in the first half — saved by Al Wehda goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi and was seen shaking his head in frustration and raising his voice toward the coaching staff as the teams went into the dressing room at the break.
Al Nassr had likely expected easy passage into the final to play Al Hilal, who beat Saudi Pro League leaders Al Ittihad 1-0 on Sunday, but couldn’t overcome an Al-Wehda team they’d beaten 4-0 on Feb. 9 with Ronaldo scoring all four goals.
It’s been a fairly rough season for Ronaldo, who moved to Saudi Arabia at the end of last year, with Al Nassr sitting in second place behind Al Ittihad in the table with the season reaching the business end of the schedule.
The out-of-favour Portugal international signed on with Al Nassr in December after a falling out with Man United manager Erik ten Hag, and Ronaldo had few chances offered up to play elsewhere before joining the Saudi club.
Ronaldo’s emotions have gotten the better of him on several occasions and most recently he narrowly avoided a red card in last Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Al Hilal when he took down an opposing player with a flying headlock.
Al Nassr are three points behind leaders Al Ittihad with six games to play.