Cristiano Ronaldo won his first trophy since 2021 by leading Al Nassr to a remarkable victory in the Arab Club Champions Cup final.Al Nassr beat Saudi rivals Al-Hilal 2-1 after extra time on Saturday despite playing for more than an hour with just 10 men. Brazilian winger Michael headed Al-Hilal in front early in the second half before Al Nassr were reduced to 10 players for a last-man foul by Abdulelah Al-Amri in the 71st minute.But Ronaldo equalized to force extra time before netting again to complete a dramatic turnaround.
Summer signings Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic all featured for Al-Hilal, while Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles started for Al Nassr. Salem Al-Dawsari had the first chance of the game but ballooned a shot high and wide under pressure from two Al Nassr defenders. Al-Hilal keeper Mohammed Alowais then pulled off a superb save to deny Brozovic his first goal for Al Nassr following a fine cross by Mane.
Alowais was called upon on two more occasions before half-time. He kept out a powerful 20-yard effort from Abdullah Al Khaibari before thwarting Ronaldo from close range. After being second best during the first half, Al-Hilal took the lead five minutes into the second period.Michael opened the scoring with a diving header before imitating Ronaldo’s famous ‘SIU’ goal celebration. Ronaldo would later respond.
Al Nassr’s hopes of a comeback appeared to be fading when center-back Al-Amri was dismissed. But Al Nassr defied their numerical disadvantage to draw level almost immediately after going down to 10 men when Sultan Al-Ghannam’s low cross set up Ronaldo, who celebrated by waving is finger directly at Michael. But Ronaldo would not be denied in the eighth minute of extra time when he headed home from a rebound after Seko Fofana had rattled the crossbar from long range. Ronaldo picked up an injury in the second half of extra time, which saw him leave the field on a medical buggy.Nevertheless, Al Nassr held firm – despite late Al-Hilal pressure – to win their first trophy since 2020.
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