Cristiano Ronaldo suffered a humiliating night as his Al-Nassr side were beaten 2-0 by Al-Hilal, whose supporters taunted the 38-year-old by chanting the name of Lionel Messi.
Former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo outshone Ronaldo and scored twice for Al-Hilal, with the result leaving Al-Nassr three points behind Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Ittihad.
Al-Hilal’s supporters chanted “Messi, Messi!” and waved shirts of the World Cup winner at Ronaldo as he left the pitch following the defeat, which was a blow to Al-Nassr’s hopes of winning the Saudi title.
The night could have been worse for Ronaldo, who also avoided a red card after appearing to ‘chokeslam’ an opposing player.
Ronaldo leapt to challenge for a high ball but when he came down he wrapped his arms around the neck of opponent Gustavo Cuéllar, dragging him to the ground.
Ronaldo was shown a yellow card by Michael Oliver, the Premier League referee who was in charge of the game, but escaped further punishment.
Ighalo’s double moved the former Watford and Manchester United striker to the top of the scoring charts with his 17th and 18th of the season.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, sits sixth with just 11 goals this campaign. Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr on a lucrative deal last January and scored eight goals in his first five games but he has been unable to sustain that pace.
In Al-Nassr’s first game since the departure of coach Rudi Garcia, Ronaldo had a goal disallowed for offside in the 77th minute and after he was awarded a penalty six minutes later the Video Assistant Referee reversed the decision.
