VAR ‘a joke’ as Cristiano Ronaldo denied superb Al-Nassr goal

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Former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo was given a rough night by match officials as Al-Nassr suffered a 2-0 defeat against fellow Saudi Pro League heavyweights Al-Hilal. The Portuguese nearly dragged his side back into the game with a fantastic second-half strike, only for VAR to rule it out for a marginal offside.

Going into Tuesday’s high-stakes clash, Al-Nassr were already under pressure to keep pace with Nuno Espirito Santo’s Al-Ittihad after dropping points against Al Feiha last time out. 

Odion Ighalo came up trumps for Al-Hilal with a penalty either side of half-time, leaving Ronaldo and co three points off the pace, despite having played a game more. The Portuguese also drew blank for the second match in a row, bringing his total to 11 goals in the same number of games.

Things may have been different, however, as Ronaldo made a bending run behind the last line of defence in the 76th minute, plucked a long ball out of the sky and powerfully half-volleyed into the top corner.

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However, VAR went on to overturn the goal for an extremely tight offside call that left Ronaldo reeling. Fans raged at the decision on social media, including @bob9603726266, who wrote: “Ronaldo offside? What a joke. Perfect example of why VAR is ruining football.”

That wasn’t the only call that went against the five-time Ballon d’Or winner as he also saw the awarding of a penalty – which he was destined to take – reversed by the team of match officials, which included Premier League regular, Oliver.

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To cap things off, the Al-Nassr skipper was shown a yellow card for a bizarre headlock tackle that dragged his opponent to the ground. It marked a poor start for new manager Dinko Jelicic, who replaced Rudi Garcia last week.

Reports in Spain indicate that Ronaldo vented his frustration behind the scenes, outlining to club chiefs that Al-Nassr could perform at a higher level if they had a different boss at the helm. Jelicic’s previous managerial positions have mostly been in Croatia, although he had coached the Saudi giants’ youth set-up since last year.

Ronaldo briefly wished Garcia well on social media following his departure by mutual agreement. “Pleasure to have worked with you,” he wrote. “Wishing you all the best for the future.”

Al-Nassr will now turn their attention towards a hunt for silverware as they take on Al-Wehda in the King Cup of Champions semi-final. By the time league action resumes, they could be six points behind Al-Ittihad with six games to play.

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