WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo loses his cool as he reacts to Jhon Duran receiving red card in Al-Nassr’s 3-2 loss to Al Ettifaq
Al-Nassr talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was furious with the match officials after teammate Jhon Duran was shown a red card in the 92nd minute of the 3-2 defeat to Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, February 21. Ronaldo failed to get on the scoresheet on a frustrating night at Al-Awwal Park, which ended with a decision that left him visibly fuming.
Duran, who joined Al-Nassr from Aston Villa in the final week of the January transfer window, had a night to forget against their Saudi rivals. The Colombia forward appeared to slap Al-Ettifaq defender Abdulelah Al-Malki at the back of his head during a pause in play in the stoppage time of the second half.
The recipient of the slap, Al-Malki, subsequently dropped to the floor and rolled on the ground, prompting the referee to issue a red card to Duran.
The red card decision, however, did not sit well with Cristiano Ronaldo, who confronted the match officials and demanded a review of the replay. None of the officials hearkened to Ronaldo’s request, which made him explode with rage, and boot the stationary ball into the stands.
Watch the clip here:
The result left Al-Nassr rooted in the fourth position of the league table with 44 points after 21 games. In the game’s aftermath, fans took to X to berate Ronaldo for his performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo warned for throwing tantrum following Jhon Duran’s red card in Al-Nassr’s 3-2 defeat to Al-Ettifaq
Al-Nassr manager Stefano Pioli gave his two cents on the unfortunate red card incident that they were on the receiving end of in the dying embers of their league match with Al-Ettifaq.
The Italian pulled no punches while giving his assessment of the incident. He said he wasn’t happy with the sending-off and seemed to criticize both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jhon Duran for the actions.
Pioli said in the post-match press conference (via Mirror):
“I'm not happy with the red card, [but] our players have to be calm. We could have played better, but mistakes cost me a lot today and caused the loss. Today’s match started well and we took the lead, but what made the difference were the mistakes.’’
“Everyone is responsible for mistakes, I am the first one responsible for correcting mistakes and we do the work very seriously. We did not lose the match for tactical reasons, but because of the individual mistakes we made," he added.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr will next be in action against Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League next week Tuesday, February 25.
