RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr beat Abha 3-1 in the King’s Cup on Tuesday but it was a disappointing night for the Portuguese forward, who failed to score, received a yellow card and was substituted for the first time since his move to Saudi Arabia. Ronaldo failed to score for the third consecutive game and is yet to open his account at Al-Nassr stadium. The former Manchester United striker, who moved to Al-Nassr in January on a two-and-a-half-year contract for a reported fee of about 200 million euros ($214.71 million), had contributed to 10 consecutive goals, scoring eight with two assists before going empty handed in the last two league games. In Tuesday’s quarter-final, Al-Nassr were leading 2-0 when Ronaldo had the opportunity to launch a counter-attack but Latvian referee Andris Treimanis ended the first half.
Ronaldo angrily grabbed the ball and then hit it away, which saw the referee bring out a yellow card. Al-Nassr scored a third in the second half before Ronaldo was replaced in the 87th minute by Anderson Talisca, the league’s top scorer returning from injury. Ronaldo did not enjoy the best of games last Thursday, kicking away water bottles before going up the tunnel after a 1-0 defeat to rivals Al-Ittihad. “Ronaldo’s presence gives the opposing teams an incentive to play the game of their lives against him,” local media quoted Al-Nassr coach Rudi Garcia as saying after the game. While Ronaldo’s famous celebration was not seen at Al-Nassr Stadium it appeared in another King’s Cup game, with Al-Hilal’s Michael Delgado performing it in their 3-1 win against Al-Fateh.