da dobrowin： Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off as Al-Nassr went crashing out of the Saudi Super Cup final on Monday with a 2-1 defeat to Al-Hilal.
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Al-Hilal beat Al-Nassr 2-1Ronaldo shown red card late in gameStar elbowed Al-Hilal playerGettyTELL ME MORE
Ronaldo's frustrations began late in the first half when his side had a goal disallowed because of the Portugal star. He was in an offside position when the ball came into the box and he tried to play the ball before it made its way through to Otavio, who scored. The flag went up because of Ronaldo's attempt to touch the ball and, sure enough, the decision to disallow it was upheld after a VAR review.
It was Al-Hilal who finally took the lead just after the hour mark when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic played the ball through to Salem Al-Dawsari, who raced ahead of the Al-Nassr defence and fired into the net. They came close to doubling their lead shortly afterwards when Malcom's fine strike from distance smacked the post. Malcom got his goal with just less than 20 minutes left on the clock when a dangerous cross found him running into the box and the Brazilian's well-placed header beat David Ospina.
Ronaldo raced forward in a rare attempt from his side to pull a goal back late on but he seemed unusually off the pace and saw his attempt easily blocked by Kalidou Koulibaly. His anger reached its peak later on and he ended up elbowing an Al-Hilal player and was shown a straight red card – he even raised his fist in anger at the referee afterwards.
With their talisman out, Al-Nassr managed to pull a goal back through Sadio Mane, but the damage had been done and Al-Hilal went through to the final.
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Brazilian winger Malcom was a real thorn in the side of Al-Nassr through the second half. He was unlucky to hit the post with a particularly dangerous shot from distance and came close another time before finally getting a deserved goal. He remained determined to add further misery for Al-Nassr as he attempted to create more chances for his team.
GettyTHE BIG LOSER
It all might have gone another way had Ronaldo not made a move to play the ball when it was sent towards the back post just before half-time. The Portugal star was offside when the ball was played and stretched and failed to get a touch to it, resulting in Otavio's goal being disallowed. The Portugal star was visibly furious and was booked for protesting and was eventually shown a needless red card for elbowing an Al-Hilal player later in the second half.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
After getting the win on Monday, Al-Hilal will go on to the final, where they will face Al-Ittihad, who beat Al-Wehda 2-1 in the other semi-final earlier in the day. The final will be played on April 11 at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.