Cristiano Ronaldo could not contain his fury as he was denied the opportunity to end his Al-Nassr goal drought in Tuesday afternoon’s cup game against Abha.
The 38-year-old failed to find the back of the net in his last two Saudi Pro League games and was frustrated again during the King Cup quarter-final tie.
Sami Al-Najei and Abdullah Al-Khaibari gave Al-Nassr an early two-goal lead but Ronaldo was livid when the referee blew the half-time whistle as he tried to burst out of his own half on the counter.
There had been two minutes of added time and the referee drew the first half to a close with 47:24 on the clock, so the former Manchester United star could have few complaints about his run being cut short.
But, he responded to the whistle by gesticulating angrily at the referee before picking up and booting the ball into the opposition half.
This act of petulance was punished with a yellow card, which only got him even more angry as he left the pitch towards the tunnel.
It is not the first time he has let his frustrations show in recent days. Al-Nassr were defeated 1-0 by Al-Ittihad last week – a result which allowed the latter to go top of the league – and Ronaldo responded to this by ripping off his captain’s armband.
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He also kicked some water bottles near the touchline and made straight for the tunnel. Ronaldo’s recent behaviour marks a change from his jubilant attitude throughout February.
Ronaldo scored eight goals in four Saudi Pro League games last month, including four in one game against Al-Wehda. But, things have not gone to plan since then and his goal drought has now extended to three games.
Mohammed Maran extended Al-Nassr’s lead after the break and Adam grabbed a consolation goal for the visitors. Despite his yellow card, Ronaldo was left on the pitch by Rudi Garcia until the dying minutes of the fixture.
