Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo took arguably the worst free-kick of his career for Al Nassr during their 1-0 narrow defeat at the hands of title rivals Al Ittihad. The two teams squared off in the ‘Saudi Superclasico’, in the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah with Al Nassr leading the Saudi Pro League by only two points prior to the kick-off. Nonetheless, it was the home team that prevailed over the visitors for a second time in the space of just over a month, thanks to a goal from Romarinho in the 80th minute.

Despite having six goals in the Saudi Pro League, Cristiano Ronaldo was unable to add to his total and was heavily criticised for a terrible set-piece attempt. Prior to the game, the Al Nassr skipper heard loud jeers from the home fans. He responded by grinning and nodding. He also shared a warm hug with Nuno Espirito Santo who was his manager when the Riyadh XI played Paris Saint-Germain in a midseason friendly in January.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo struck an awful freekick for Al Nassr during a drab performance against Al Ittihad. Credits: Twitter

Cristiano Ronaldo rockets awful freekick for Al Nassr

Cristiano Ronaldo’s team needed to avoid a defeat to keep intact their lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League, with a win further widening the gap between them and Al Ittihad. However, the game looked to be heading towards a goalless draw, when Al Nassr had a glaring opportunity from a freekick from the edge of the penalty box in the 55th minute. While the right-side free kick appeared to be well-shaped for a cross into the area, Ronaldo stood over it to directly try and hit it into the back of the net.

Two men were in the wall, and the ex-Man United forward thought he had a good chance. He prepared to use his standard posture, legs apart, and signature knuckleball motion. Despite having scored a good number of set-piece goals over his career, the 38-year-old showed that he isn’t exactly a set-piece specialist these days by lashing the ball high, wide, and into the seats.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner even had the audacity to request a corner, believing that his weak shot had actually taken a deflection. The referee however bluntly pointed for a goal-kick. While Cristiano Ronaldo wasted a brilliant chance, Al Ittihad continued to trouble the visitors, as they had done throughout the game. They were finally rewarded with a goal, which came in the 80th minute through a penalty.

Romarinho kept his cool to convert the spot-kick under immense pressure as he finally got his goal of the night since it was just ten minutes earlier that his spectacular volleyed attempt was cleared off the line. Al Nassr were unable to come up with a response in the final ten minutes, with Ronaldo too enjoying only one shot on target throughout the game.

With the final whistle, however, Cristiano Ronaldo’s demeanour had drastically changed as he was upset about his team’s second loss to Al Ittihad since his arrival. However, this defeat had cost them much as it dropped them one point behind Al Ittihad in the title race. The captain was then spotted ranting and cursing before angrily kicking water bottles while heading into the tunnel. Al Nassr face Abha in the King Cup of Champions quarterfinal on Tuesday where they will be attempting to recover from the league loss.