"The refs are cheating Ronaldo", "This is peak corruption" - Fans react as Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr play out draw in SPL opener

Fans have accused the match officials of corruption and cheating Cristiano Ronaldo after Al-Nassr were held to a 1-1 draw against Al-Raed. The Knights of Najd dropped points in their 2024-25 Saudi Pro League opener at Al-Awwal Stadium on Thursday, August 22.

Both sides started brightly, with Al-Raed scoring in the 17th minute. Fortunately for the hosts, the goal was ruled out due to an offside in the build-up. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal of the new SPL campaign, heading home in the 34th minute from Sadio Mane's cross.

All hell broke loose shortly after half-time after Al-Nassr conceded a penalty in the 48th minute. Aymeric Laporte was initially given a red card after harshly being deemed to have pulled the shirt of an Al-Raed player - despite barely making any contact. After a thorough VAR check, the card was downgraded to yellow, however, the penalty stood.

Mohamed Fouzair made no mistake from the spot a minute later to make it 1-1. Minutes later, Anderson Talisca's header struck the post for Al-Nassr.

Cristiano Ronaldo thought he had won the game for his side in the 76th minute after he put the ball in the back of the net. However, the Portugal ace's goal was ruled out by VAR as his arm was deemed to have been in an offside position.

Fans were left fuming by the decisions with one accusing the referees of cheating Cristiano Ronaldo:

"The refs are cheating Ronaldo"

Another fan tweeted:

"This is peak corruption"

Other reactions can be seen below:

"They don’t want us winning trophies & they take away legitimate goals from us too. Absolute farce," one fan commented

"Luis Castro has to go now, zero plays created, only shots to the center, dead team. They already gave away the league. All thanks to the coach once again," one fan insisted

"Terrible!!!! The ref is blue hat," one fan accused the ref of being an Al-Hilal fan

"This league is doing some dark stuff absolute ridiculous corruption going on I’m so sick of this BS already………… SMH," another added

"The officiating is a JOKE," one fan claimed

"They would never give it a penalty if it was Al-Hilal," another insisted

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How did Cristiano Ronaldo perform during Al-Nassr's 1-1 draw against Al-Raed?

Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr continue to struggle after they failed to return to winning ways following their 4-1 to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup final. They have now won just two out of their last 11 games across all competitions, including their friendlies during pre-season.

Ronaldo scored one goal, had another ruled out for offside, and landed one shot on target from four attempts. He also completed 25 passes from 36 attempts with an accuracy of 69 percent and created two chances. He completed two crosses in the game and won four out of the eight duels he contested.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping to inspire Al-Nassr to victory in their next fixture against Al-Feiha in the SPL on Tuesday, August 27.