"This league is embarrassing" - Fans react as Al-Hilal score 'controversial' penalty against Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr to remain unbeaten

Fans reacted in frustration after Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr were held to a 1-1 draw against rivals Al-Hilal in their Saudi Pro League fixture. The Al-Awwal Stadium hosted the clash on Friday, May 17. The SPL champions controversially scored a last-gasp penalty, extending their unbeaten streak in the SPL to 33 games.

Al-Nassr had the dream start when Cristiano Ronaldo played the ball into the path of Otavio. The latter unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top-right corner making it 1-0 in the first minute.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a host of big chances to add to Faris Najd's lead, however, he only managed to hit the side netting in the 12th minute. He was free inside Al-Hilal's box two minutes later but was unable to keep his header under the crossbar. The Portugal ace had his biggest chance in the 26th minute. Abdullah Al-Khaibari played in a good cross, however, the former failed to make contact with the ball.

Al-Hilal ramped up the pressure in the second half and thought they had found a leveler after Sergej Milinkovic-Savic found the back of the net. However, the ball was adjusted to have gone out of play.

Just when it seemed as if Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr would end Al-Hilal's 32-game unbeaten streak, Sadio Mane caught Saud Abdulhamid in the face in the 95th minute. After checking the pitchside monitor, the referee awarded the visitors a penalty. Aleksandar Mitrovic made no mistake from the spot to make it 1-1.

One fan reacted by posting:

"THIS LEAGUE IS EMBARRASSING RONALDO SHOULD GO BACK TO EUROPE"

Another fan wrote:

"Mané hit Abdulhamid in the face right on the penalty box line, angle isn't perfect but it does look like it happened in the penalty area just barely. Right call in my book. But I can guarantee you, given the circumstances & the rivalry, this WILL be beyond controversial"

Other fan reactions can be viewed below:

"Al Nassr was winning.. So Al Hilal referee decided to give them penalty to save them. We have seen this several times this season. This is shameless. This league is disgusting", one fan stated

"Most penalties received in Saudi League. (139) 20 penalties for, 0 against this season. 7 YEARS since last penalty against. Al Hilal for you", one fan pointed out

"It's so rigged", one fan said

"It was outside the box as well, I’m done watching this league Ronaldo can score his goals but it doesn’t matter the league is corrupt", an exasperated fan claimed

"nah this was actually crazy seeing it live no way they gave them a 90+ penalty that's literally how they won the league as well", another fan said

"I just don't wanna see the final in few weeks time we all know what's gonna happen", one fan posted

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How did Cristiano Ronaldo fare during Al-Nassr's 1-1 draw against Al-Hilal?

Al-Nassr suffered great heartbreak after they conceded a last-minute penalty to draw 1-1 against Al-Hilal in the SPL. Let's take a look at the stats to see how Cristiano Ronaldo performed:

Cristiano Ronaldo provided one assist and completed 11 out of 14 passes with an accuracy of 79 percent. In addition, he created one big chance and won seven duels. However, he was quite wasteful, landing just one shot on target from four attempts, missing three big chances in the process.

Nevertheless, Cristiano Ronaldo has registered 42 goals and 12 assists in 42 appearances across all competitions this season. Al-Nassr will next face Al-Riyadh on Thursday, May 23.