Cristiano Ronaldo was mocked by league rivals Al-Feiha on social media after leaving the pitch in anger after holding Al Nasr to a disappointing goalless draw on Sunday.
The result dealt a major blow to Al Nasr’s hopes of winning the Saudi Professional League.
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Al-Ittihad did not waste the opportunity to extend the gap to Al Nasr to three points with seven games remaining with a 2-1 win over Al-Wehda. Al-Itti also had an advantage in the head-to-head results with Al-Nasr.
Al-Feiha later posted an edited photo of their captain on Twitter Sami Al-Khaibari is sitting in front of Ronaldo at the chess tableRivals reflect a famous advertisement featuring Lionel Messi and Ronaldo.
The photo captioned “Checkmate” has received more than 1.9 million views, compared to less than 100,000 views for other page posts.
كِشْ مَلِك 😏💪🏻🧡#الفيحاء pic.twitter.com/xCmXsLkjrp
– نادي الفيحاء السعودية (@الفيحاكلب) April 9, 2023
Ronaldo, 38, who joined Al Nasr in January and signed a $75 million-a-year contract, lobbed a ball into the hands of goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, who kissed the ball away in the 68th minute.
The Portugal captain then twice fired over the bar in the space of six minutes before the league’s top scorer Brazilian Anderson Talisca was also fouled.
After leaving his tally at 11 in 10 league games, Ronaldo appeared furious as he left the pitch and took off the captain’s armband and placed it on his arm.
Al-Nasr coach Rudy Garcia was unhappy with the performance and the result.
“The result is definitely bad, and we are not happy,” the French coach told Saudi Sports Company (SSC) through an interpreter.
“I am not satisfied with the performance of the players. I have asked them to play at the same level as in the last game. [in the 5-0 victory against Al-Adalah]But it didn’t happen.”
Al Nasr, who last won the title in 2019, play a crucial game next week against Al-Hilal, the defending champions and fourth in the standings, which could decide the title race.