Cristiano Ronaldo was left fuming after his Al-Nassr team-mate, Jhon Duran, received a bizarre red card on Friday night.
Emotions ran high at Al-Awwal Park, where Al-Nassr were 2-1 up against Al-Ettifaq as late as the 81st minute, before two late goals secured an unlikely 3-2 win for the visitors.
Painful turned to downright disastrous in stoppage time, when Duran was shown a straight red for what appeared to be a playful slap on the back of Abdulelah Almalki’s head. Almalki crumbled to the turf and began rolling around, with the referee swiftly reaching for his back pocket.
Duran did his best to gesture to the official that he meant no malice, but it had no effect on the outcome as he was given his marching orders. Al-Nassr therefore lost the game and may lose big-money striker Duran to a suspension in upcoming matches.
Ronaldo was absolutely raging as he shouted over to the touchline with his arms flailing and his face bright red. Al-Nassr finished second in the Saudi Pro League in the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s first two seasons, and frustration is evidently growing as they slip further off the pace this campaign.
They sit fourth in the table after 21 games played, eight points behind league leaders Al-Ittihad. Ronaldo has been amongst the goals, scoring 88 in 98 games since signing for the club, but he is yet to lift major silverware in Saudi.
Club bosses hoped that the arrival of Duran would help see to that. They beat stiff competition to complete a £64.5million deal for the Colombian towards the end of the January transfer window, and he has scored four goals in as many games since.
The squad is jam-packed with talented stars such as Marcelo Brozovic, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Simakan, Aymeric Laporte and Bento. There is serious pedigree on the touchline, too, with former Inter and AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli in charge.
Duran gushed over his chance to play alongside Ronaldo. “I am very happy to share and learn from the best athlete in the world,” said the 21-year-old.
“For me, he is the biggest star in football and I am very happy to learn from him. Scoring with the football king is like playing a career in FIFA. I made this decision because I think it’s the best one and I’ll make sure it is.”
