Ronaldo cautioned, brought on as Al Nassr’s goal drought continues

Cristiano Ronaldo endured a disappointing night when he was booked in Al Nassr’s 3-1 win over Abha in the King’s Cup on Tuesday and was substituted for the first time since moving to Saudi Arabia.

Ronaldo hasn’t scored for the third game in a row and has yet to open his account at Al-Nassr Stadium.

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The former Manchester United striker, who joined Al Nassr on a two-and-a-half year contract in January, has been directly involved in his side’s last 10 goals, scoring eight with two assists before going empty in the last two league games.

In Tuesday’s quarter-finals, Al Nassr led 2-0 when Ronaldo had an opportunity to counterattack, but Latvian referee Andris Treimanis ended the first half.

Angrily, Ronaldo grabbed the ball and punched it away, after which the referee showed the yellow card.

Al Nassr scored a third goal in the second half before Ronaldo was replaced in the 87th minute by Anderson Talisca, the league’s top scorer returning from injury.

Ronaldo wasn’t enjoying the best of games last Thursday after kicking away water bottles before heading up the tunnel after a 1-0 loss to rivals Al-Ittihad.

“Ronaldo’s presence gives the opposing teams an incentive to play him the game of their lives,” local media quoted Al-Nassr coach Rudi Garcia as saying after the game.

While Ronaldo’s famous celebration could not be seen at Al Nassr Stadium, it did take place in another King’s Cup game where Al-Hilal’s Michael Delgado paraded it in the 3-1 win over Al-Fateh.