Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr end in a 1-1 draw in the Saudi Championship classic

With this Friday's draw (17), Al-Hilal maintained its unbeaten record in the league. Jorge Jesus' team won 29 matches and drew three. There are only two rounds left for the team to reach the unprecedented national title, this time undefeated. Otávio, a Brazilian naturalized Portuguese, received a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo and hit it from outside the area, opening the scoring with a lightning goal for Al-Nassr22 seconds into the game.

The classic pitted the Saudi Pro League's top scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo, against Mitrovic, who scored 26 goals. Coach Luís Castro's team hoped to impose their first defeat on Jorge Jesus' team in the national league. However, things didn't go as planned.

CR7 passed blank

Forward Cristiano Ronaldo managed four shots inside the penalty area, including a one-on-one chance with the opposing goalkeeper in the 35th minute of the second half, but, due to a lack of aim or defense from the rival goalkeeper, he did not score. In the Saudi Pro League, he has scored 33 goals.

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_{Cristiano greets his opponent in the game in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Photo: reproduction/YasserBakhsh/GettyImages Embed)}

Coaches duel

In turn, Al-Hilal had a penalty awarded in stoppage time. VAR alerted the referee that Mané had hit the referee in the face. Abdulhamid inside the area and Spaniard Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez went to check it on the monitor. With the certainty of the foul, the judge marked the infraction. Mitrovic converted and defined the score of the game: 1-1, at 55' of the final stage. Today (17/05), in the city of Riyadh, the classic marked the reunion of the Portuguese coaches, as an initial preparation for the final of the Saudi King's Cup. However, it was not this time that the duel of Portuguese coaches revealed a winner.

With 89 points, Al-Hilal are already champions and Al-Nassr, with 78 points, the runner-up. The team has its next commitment next Thursday (23), against Al-Tai, while the CR7 team visits Al-Riyadh also that same day.

Featured Photo: Mitrovic in action, surrounded by Al-Nassr opponents (Reproduction/JamalKudsi/Al-Hilal)