The Al Nassr scored its first victory of 2026 controversially with the actions of the now famous Cristiano Ronaldo in the headlines after an awkward 3-2 win over Al Shabab. Though the outcome preserved the Riyadh club in the race of the title, the attention turned to the incident between Ronaldo and Al Shabab goalkeeper, Marcelo Grohe.
It was a highly aggressive match where Al Nassr had a hard time forcing their way until the latter part of the game. When Abdulrahman Ghareeb scored the final point, Al Shabab players cried foul in the attack and requested a check by VAR. During the demonstrations, Ronaldo was seen mocking Grohe by mimicking him to be crying, and this immediately heated the situation on the field.
Referees had come to the rescue but the Portuguese forward could not be punished. Ronaldo had earlier on in the match already fired at Grohe pushing him to the ground during a goalmouth opportunity, which was quickly diffused by both parties apologizing.
The video of the post goal celebration soon went viral and there was much debate whether Ronaldo ought to have been sent off. Critics referred to the standards of the Saudi Pro League in the field of discipline and the incident was a manifestation of inconsistent refereeing.
Al Nassr was fortunate and flairful on the field. The goal of Saad Balobaid was his self-goal, Kingsley Coman hit an amazing bicycle kick, and Ghareeb scored the decisive point in the end. The three points put Al Nassr second as Al Hilal is ahead of it by four points but has played one more game.
The personal performance of Ronaldo was downplayed. He is 40 and is in his 41 th year, and he has not created any goal yet, and has been more and more scrutinized about his behavior on the field and not his goal production.
