Cristiano Ronaldo was a picture as a late own-goal from teammate Bento stopped his celebrations of a first major trophy in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo’s Al Nassr were 1-0 up against title rivals Al Hilal and getting ready to celebrate three points that would’ve clinched a first league title since the Portuguese’ arrival.
Mohamed Simakan scored a 37th minute opener and in the 83rd Ronaldo came off as the title t-shirts got prepared on the bench.
The referee soon signalled eight minutes of injury time which Hilal couldn’t make anything of, swinging a hopeless ball into the box with 10 seconds on the clock.
However, goalkeeper Bento was bumped into by former Barcelona man Inigo Martinez when he went for a simple claim, and ended up fluffing the ball off his gloves into his own net.
The cameras quickly switched to Ronaldo who almost looked emotional before the full-time whistle was quickly blown.
Nassr are on 83 points with one game to play, five ahead of Hilal who have two games to play.
That means they could be crowned champions without kicking a ball should Hilal not beat Neom on Saturday.
Otherwise, Nassr will need to match Hilal’s result when they face Damac on a final day that looked set to be meaningless with 10 seconds on left on the clock.
‘These things happen’
Giving his take post-match, Nassr head coach and serial winner Jorge Jesus used his experience to play down the moment.
“It came about after a collision between Bento and Martínez, without any intervention from the Al Hilal players,” he said. “These kinds of plays happen frequently in football.
“It’s difficult for us to accept the draw because we wanted the title today, but, God willing, Al Nassr will beat Damac.
“I have some concerns due to the physical exhaustion of some players, and we can’t forget that we didn’t have Angelo and Al-Khaibari due to injury.”
He added: “I would like to congratulate everyone on the tactical quality of today’s game, the atmosphere in the stadium, and the presence of the fans, who created a true football celebration in every sense.
“The last opportunity of the game prevented us from celebrating the title today, but we still have a game at home.
“Football always gives another chance, and we strongly believe that we will achieve victory.”
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