Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr suffered a potentially crucial blow to their Saudi Pro League title hopes on Tuesday after they were beaten 2-0 at Al Hilal.
Al Hilal, last year’s champions, showed few signs of being distracted by their upcoming AFC Champions League final and were superior in all departments throughout the game, even keeping Ronaldo quiet for much of it.
Al Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al Aqidi was kept busy and twice foiled Al Hilal striker Moussa Marega early on.
But there was nothing he could do about Odion Ighalo’s 40th minute penalty, awarded following Abdulelah Al Amri’s handball.
Al Nassr tried to raise the tempo in the second half, but they couldn’t exert consistent pressure on the Al Hilal back line.
Ronaldo’s frustrations got the better of him and he was booked for an ugly challenge on Gustavo Cuellar around the hour mark and soon after his side found themselves two down.
Michael Delgado was brought down on the edge of the penalty area by Jaloliddin Masharipov and English referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot for a second time.
Ighalo sent Al Aqidi the wrong way again and his 18th goal of the season put him clear at the top of the league’s scoring charts.
With 14 minutes left Ronaldo showed some of his old magic in finding the net, but his spectacular effort was ruled out for offside, summing up his night.