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Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr registered a last-minute victory against fierce Saudi rivals Al Ettifaq in the King’s Cup of Champions, thanks to a 107th-minute strike from Sadio Mane. The former Liverpool forward broke the deadlock in extra time to seal a 1-0 victory and take his side into the quarter-finals of the competition.
Despite the timid scoreline, the game proved to be a hotly-contested one, with both sides getting reduced to 10 men by the end of regulation time. Al Ettifaq dominated the proceedings in the first half, attempting four shots as compared to Al Nassr's two.
Nevertheless, it was the Knights of Najd who seemed to draw first blood, with Anderson Talisca finding the back of the net in the 45th minute through a Sadio Mane cross. However, the goal was soon ruled out after an intervention from VAR, with the officials controversially marking Cristiano Ronaldo in an offside position.
Things soon turned worse for Luis Castro's men as Talisca was issued a red card for his foul on Ettifaq defender Hamdan Al-Shammrani. Initially deemed as a yellow-card offense, the decision was later upgraded to a red card by VAR, causing Al Nassr to end the first half with 10 men.
In a similar fashion, Al Ettifaq's Ali Hazazi was also given his marching orders in the 89th minute for a reckless tackle on Otavio. Despite all the drama, Al Nassr maintained their influence in the game and were finally rewarded for their efforts in the 107th minute through Sadio Mane.
Fans quickly took to social media to compliment Mane's clinical finishing, while also remarking on Cristiano Ronaldo's failure to find the back of the net.
One of the fans hailed the Senegalese forward's efforts and wrote:
"Carrying Ronaldo."
"Saved my idolo from generational cooking," another fan posted.
Thanks to Sadio Mane's goal, Al Nassr are now through to the quarter-final stage of the King’s Cup of Champions. They will next host Al Khaleej in a league fixture on Saturday, November 4.
Cristiano Ronaldo has started this season on fire
After an underwhelming debut campaign in the Middle East, everyone expected Cristiano Ronaldo to have a better start to his second season with Al Nassr. The Portuguese superstar has done exactly that, netting 14 goals and providing eight assists in 15 appearances across competitions so far.
Despite joining Al Nassr in the middle of the season last term, the Portuguese superstar managed to finish the campaign as the fifth top-scorer in the Saudi Pro League. From the looks of it, the 38-year-old will easily grab the top spot in the 2023-24 season, having already netted 11 goals in the league.
Cristiano Ronaldo recently overtook Erling Haaland as the highest goalscorer of 2023. The Real Madrid legend has 43 goals and 10 assists to his name in the ongoing calendar year.
Despite his mature age, Ronaldo is still competing with the biggest names on the planet for the most goals scored.
