Cristiano Ronaldo's team Al Nassr didn't get off to a great start in the new season of the Saudi Pro League. They faced Al Raed at home and were expected to churn out full points against the team that ended the previous season at 12th place. But much to the team's frustration, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. The game was indeed frustrating for Ronaldo and his teammates as the former's what looked to be the winning goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee.
With 15 minutes remaining, Ronaldo found the net for the second time in the day but following a long check by VAR, he was ruled offside. This denied a win for Al Nassr and the match ended at 1-1. Earlier, it was Ronaldo who put Al Nassr in the lead in the 34th minute scoring his 50th goal in 48 games in the Saudi Pro League.
But four minutes into the second half, Al Raed levelled the score through Mohammed Fouzair. Moreover, after being denied a possible winning goal by VAR, Al Nassr were also denied a penalty for handball in the stoppage time of the second half even though the referee reviewed the incident on the pitch side monitor.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his team were certainly disappointed after the match ended in a draw. But the former tried to cheer up his colleagues with a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that they will not give up and keep fighting hard to achieve glory. "We will never settle. We will never give up. Our determination knows no limits!" Ronaldo wrote in his post.
Ronaldo joined Al Nassr last year but is yet to win a major trophy with the team. Al Nassr finished runners-up to Al Hilal in both the Saudi Pro League and Saudi King's Cup last season. They were again beaten by the Riyadh side in the Saudi Super Cup last Saturday (August 17).