Although Cristiano Ronaldo does not play at the top level in Europe anymore, his antics on the field still grab all the headlines on matchday. However, this time, it is not something he would like to see again when he returns home. Al-Nassr’s Ronaldo was booked in the second half of a crucial clash against Al-Hilal for grabbing Gustavo Cuellar around his neck and pulling him to the ground.
Al-Hilal and Cuellar as well were quick to remind Ronaldo that they were there on the pitch to play soccer and not any combat sports. Al-Hilal posted a reel of the incident on their Instagram account and captioned it, “WWE?”
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Cuellar, on the other hand, reposted the reel on his story and penned a savage three-worded message. He wrote, “UFC saudi league [laughing emojis].”
What looked like a normal jump to head the ball had turned into a headlock attempt by Ronaldo. The Portuguese star held on to Cuellar and pulled him to the ground. Even after that, he held on for a further few seconds. Surprisingly, Michael Oliver deemed the challenge to be only a yellow card offense. VAR, which was also available on the night, did not deem it necessary to overturn the decision.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr’s title charge takes a massive blow after defeat against Al-Hilal
Before the match against Al-Hilal began, Al-Nassr was three points behind league leaders Al-Ittihad with the same number of matches played. A win would have seen Al-Nassr lead the league table at least until Al-Ittihad played their next match.
It was a battle of the two former Manchester United strikers as Ronaldo went head-to-head with Odion Ighalo. To everyone’s surprise, it was the Nigerian who drew first blood. Ighalo converted from the spot in the 42nd minute to give Al-Hilal the lead.
The second half was much more eventful than the first. Ighalo struck again from the spot in the 62nd minute. However, another surprising decision was made by Michael Oliver. In the 70th minute, Anderson Talisca looked like he deliberately stepped on an Al-Hilal player’s leg, however, after a VAR consultation, it was still deemed to be only a yellow card offense.
⌛️ || Full time, @AlNassrFC 0:2 #Alhilal pic.twitter.com/YZlbwzfE8z
— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) April 18, 2023
In the dying minutes, Al-Nassr were shown a glimmer of hope when they received a penalty. However, it was overturned. They were defeated 2-0.
Al-Nassr, as of now, is three points behind Al-Ittihad while also playing a match more than them. League leaders Al-Ittihad play their next league match against third-placed Al-Shabab on Thursday, April 27.