Ronaldo’s Title Dreams Delayed by Stoppage-Time Own Goal
The stage was set for a coronation in Riyadh. Instead, it ended in disbelief.
Al-Nassr were seconds away from their first Saudi Pro League title in seven years when their own goalkeeper, Bento, turned heroics into heartbreak with an injury-time own goal that handed Al Hilal a 1-1 draw on Tuesday.
They were leading. They were almost there. Then it all slipped through a pair of gloves.
The Riyadh derby had carried the feel of a title decider long before kick-off. Free shirts handed out to home fans turned the stands into a wall of yellow, a living backdrop for what many expected to be Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-awaited domestic triumph in Saudi Arabia.
For 90 minutes, the script held. Al-Nassr, top of the table, clung to a 1-0 lead against their fiercest rivals, the side chasing them from second place. Every clearance, every tackle in the closing stages felt like it was dragging the clock closer to a historic 11th league crown.
Then came stoppage time.
An overhead effort dropped from the Riyadh night sky, Bento rose to claim it, and in the kind of moment that haunts goalkeepers for years, he fumbled the ball into his own net. The stadium’s roar turned into a stunned, fractured noise – half disbelief, half despair.
On the bench, Ronaldo could only watch it unfold.
The Al-Nassr captain, who had been chasing his first domestic title since arriving in January 2023, cut a forlorn figure as the ball crossed the line. The 41-year-old, a serial champion across Europe, has yet to lift a league trophy in Saudi Arabia, and the equaliser delayed what felt like destiny.
The stakes could hardly have been higher. A win would have sealed the title on the night: Al-Nassr, already leading the Saudi Pro League with 83 points from 33 games, would have been out of reach. Instead, Al Hilal, on 78 points from 32 matches, clung to a sliver of hope and denied their rivals the perfect party.
For Al-Nassr, the frustration runs deeper than one wild moment. Their last league title came in 2019. Al Hilal have been the dominant force since, including their 2024 triumph, and this derby had offered Al-Nassr the chance not just to win, but to win against the very team that has defined the era.
The fans had arrived ready for a celebration, draped in the yellow shirts placed on every seat. By the final whistle, those same shirts felt heavier, the title champagne shoved back on ice for at least a few more days.
Yet the story is not one of collapse, only of delay.
Al-Nassr still sit in control of the race, favourites to clinch the championship on May 21. Their final league fixture comes against Damac, 15th in the table, a game they are widely expected to navigate without drama. Barring a shock, the trophy should still find its way into Ronaldo’s hands.
He knows it too. After the match, the Portuguese forward turned to his vast online audience, telling his 770 million-plus followers: “The dream is close.”
Close, but not quite there. The title remains within reach, but thanks to one agonising, looping own goal, Al-Nassr will have to earn it all over again.
