Cristiano Ronaldo was left furious after two first-half goals were ruled out for offside during Al Nassr’s Roshn Saudi League meeting with Al Kholood on Thursday.
The Al Nassr captain thought he had given his side an early lead in the 10th minute after meeting a pass from Abdullah Al Hamdan inside the penalty area and finding the net.
However, referee Khalid Al Taris disallowed the goal after judging Ronaldo to have been in an offside position.
Ronaldo immediately confronted the referee, shouting in protest and asking for the decision to be checked by the video assistant referee. Al Taris stood by his call, leaving the Portugal forward visibly frustrated as the disagreement continued on the pitch.
The decision was not the only setback for Ronaldo before the interval. He appeared to have scored again in the final minute of first-half stoppage time, converting a cross to send the ball into the net.
That effort was also cancelled, this time because Ayman Yahya had been offside at the beginning of the move.
The two disallowed efforts denied Ronaldo the chance to complete a first-half double and intensified his objections to the officiating. Both decisions were linked to offside calls, with the second ruling coming after Al Nassr appeared to have ended the half with another goal.
The match was being played in the 12th round of the Roshn Saudi League, with Al Nassr’s supporters left waiting to see whether their captain could find a goal that would stand after the interval.
The first half ended with the score still level and tensions high, while Ronaldo’s reaction to the two decisions became the main talking point of the opening 45 minutes.
