"Flopping when it matters the most," "Messi is better" - Fans slam Cristiano Ronaldo for 'ghosting' in Al-Nassr's 3-0 loss to Al-Hilal
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) slammed Cristiano Ronaldo after he struggled to make much of an impact during Al-Nassr's 3-0 defeat to rivals Al-Hilal. The Knights of Najd suffered their third defeat of the season, away from home, in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, December 1.
Al-Hilal had the better start and could have been 3-0 up within the first 12 minutes, however, Salem Al-Dawsari and Michael missed their opportunities to break the deadlock. Luis Castro and Co. suffered a huge blow after Alex Telles was forced off in the 37th minute due to injury.
The home side took the lead in the 64th minute via Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's excellent header. Cristiano Ronaldo thought he had leveled the scores in the 72nd minute, but his strike was chalked off after he was deemed to have been offside, much to the fury of Al-Nassr.
Aleksandar Mitrovic took full advantage of this to strike twice in the 89th and 92nd minute to condemn the Knights of Najd to a 3-0 defeat. Al-Hilal have extended their lead at the top of the league table to seven points. They now have 41 points from 15 games, whereas Al-Alami have 34.
Ronaldo had a poor performance by his standards. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was given a rating of just 6.0 (as per FotMob) - the lowest of any outfield player on the pitch.
The 38-year-old was dispossessed twice, failed to complete any successful dribbles, and landed just one shot on target. He also lost four duels.
One fan aimed a dig at Ronaldo's complaints to the referee after his goal was ruled out, posting:
"Cry Ronaldo. Messi is better"
Another fan wrote:
"CRISTIANO RONALDO FLOPPING WHEN IT MATTERS THE MOST."
How did Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr perform against Al-Hilal?
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr suffered a 3-0 loss against Al-Hilal in a heated Riyadh derby. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed on Friday.
The Knights of Najd dominated possession with 64 percent of the ball. They also attempted a total of 485 passes with an accuracy of 85 percent. In contrast, Al-Hilal had 36 percent possession and attempted 268 passes with an accuracy of 77 percent.
Despite not having much of the ball, it was Al-Hilal who looked much more threatening up front, landing a total of 17 shots, with six being on target. On the other hand, Al-Nassr had 13 shots in total, landing three on target.