Ronaldo furious after early substitution. VIDEO
Cristiano Ronaldo's night in Dammam ended far earlier than expected.
Details: The Al-Nassr captain started the Saudi Pro League clash against Al-Ettifaq, but the first half turned into a nightmare for his team. Goalkeeper Bento was sent off in the 13th minute before Ondrej Duda opened the scoring on 31 minutes and Alvaro Medran doubled Al-Ettifaq's advantage in first-half stoppage time. At the start of the second half, Ange Postecoglou replaced Ronaldo with Abdullah Al-Khaibari. Footage shared by Polymarket Sports showed the Portuguese star visibly frustrated following the early substitution.
What happened after Ronaldo's departure was remarkable. Despite playing with ten men, Al-Nassr launched a late comeback. Sadio Mane pulled one back in the 74th minute from Joao Felix's assist, and just three minutes later Abdulelah Al-Amri made it 2-2, with Felix providing another decisive pass.
The comeback was completed in the 90th minute. Mane struck for the second time after an assist from Sami Al-Najei, sealing a dramatic 3-2 victory for Al-Nassr after they had trailed by two goals at halftime.
It's worth noting that Ronaldo's goal against Al-Riyadh in the previous round was the 977th official goal of his career. The 41-year-old Portuguese forward remains just 23 goals away from the symbolic milestone of 1,000.
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Steven Perez
Dailysports's expert
