It was heartbreak for Cristiano Ronaldo as Al Hilal won the King Cup of Champions after beating Al Nassr 5-4 on penalties in the final on Friday, at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
This is Al Hilal’s second King Cup of Champions title in a row, also securing its third title of the season after winning the Saudi Super Cup and the Saudi Pro League.
Sadio Mane got the first big chance of the match in the sixth minute when he was played through on goal by Ayman Yahya. Mane’s shot however went high and
A minute later, Aleksander Mitrovic started proceedings at the other end by heading in a cross from the left side of the six-yard box after meeting a beautiful cross from Malcom.
Al Nassr dominated the game for the rest of the half but was kept at bay by Al Hilal’s Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who made a few fantastic saves in the closing stages of the half.
Al Nassr continued its tempo in the second half but still could not find the back of the net, with Ronaldo’s brilliant bicycle attempt striking the right post, two minutes after the restart.
Things got worse for Al Nassr after goalkeeper David Ospina was shown a straight red in the 56th minute for handling the ball outside his penalty area while trying to clear the ball away from Malcom, who was through on goal.
AS IT HAPPENED | Al Nassr vs Al Hilal Highlights, King’s Cup final
Despite being a man down, Al Nassr continued to trouble Bounou, who refused to let go of his side’s lead, making save after save. Mitrovic had a chance to put the game to bed in the 86th minute, but his shot ended up going wide of the left post.
A minute later, Al Hilal centre-back Ali Albulayhi was sent off for attacking a player with his head while the ball was out for a throw-in. Moments later, Ayman equalised for Al Nassr after heading the ball into the goal from a long throw-in.
Two minutes later, Al Hilal’s other centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly was shown a second yellow for a dangerous foul on the opposition keeper. With nine men, Al Hilal depended on its strength on the bench to hold on in extra time and force penalties, while Al Nassr did not make proper use of its advantage.
Both Ruben Neves and Alex Telles missed the opening penalties for their respective teams, while Ronaldo and Mitrovic stepped up to keep the scoresheet moving. Al Nassr’s second keeper Waleed Abdullah gave his side the advantage after saving Saud Abdulhamid’s penalty in sudden death.
However, Bounou stepped up once again and saved Ali Al Hassan’s penalty to keep his side’s hopes alive. With Nasser Al Dawsari making no mistake in scoring the next penalty for Al Hilal, Bounou capped off an incredible night after saving youngster Meshari Al-Nemer’s penalty to win the match.
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