A lucky escape for Al-Hilal! Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr beaten to another trophy on penalties despite rivals’ incredible collapse in feisty King’s Cup final that saw three players sent off

Ronaldo and his Al-Nassr team-mates started the game as the better side, as they looked to stamp their authority on the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League winners. However, the dominance was short-lived, after Al-Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic peeled off to the back post to head the opener past David Ospina.

A strong save from Bono then denied Ronaldo just before half-time, as Al-Nassr’s frustrations began to boil over at the interval. It went from bad to worse for them following the restart, as Ospina was shown red by referee Dario Herrera.

Al-Hilal carved their opponents open with a well-worked move and the former Arsenal keeper then handled the ball outside his area in an attempt to stop Malcom, who was through on goal.

The game was seemingly put out of reach for Luis Castro’s side until Ali Albulayhi was shown his second yellow card of the evening with three minutes to go. Ayman Yahya levelled the scoreline in the following passage of play before Kalidou Koulibaly was also given his marching orders by the referee. Al-Hilal had lost both centre-backs in the blink of an eye.

Neither side took the opportunity in extra time to seal the game, meaning penalties would decide who lifted the King’s Cup. Ruben Neves was up first and struck the post with his effort before Alex Telles also failed to score. Mitrovic then made no mistake from the spot and, of course, Ronaldo scored. Each team proceeded to score the vast majority of their remaining penalties, until Al-Nassr substitute Meshari Al Nember, who had a chance to win it in extra time, failed to convert.

Al-Hilal have won the King’s Cup ten times prior to the final today, with their most recent success arriving last season. Al-Nassr have won the competition six times and last lifted the trophy in 1990.

The Morccan goalkeeper recaptured his finest form from the 2022 Qatar World Cup. He regularly denied Ronaldo and Otavio during the first 90-minutes and then made a decisive save in the shoot-out to keep Al-Hilal in the side. They owe this win to him.

With the game seemingly in control, Al Bulayhi caused this game to spiral out of control. Yahya equalised shortly after he was sent off and with Koulibaly departing too, their grasp on the game had completely gone.

It was a needless altercation that prompted the first sending-off and could have been easily avoided. It ultimately didn’t cost his team but it was careless nonetheless.

The 2023/24 season has now come to an end for both teams. Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Neves, Otavio, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Mitrovic and Marcelo Brozovic will now shift their focus to Euro 2024 with their respective national teams. David Ospina will be heading to the Copa America with Colombia.