Al Nassr came very close to inflicting Al Hilal's first defeat in the Saudi Arabian championship, this Friday, but ended up drawing in the Riyadh derby (1-1). Cristiano Ronaldo assisted Otávio for an early goal at 23 seconds (!), however, at the death, the Saudi champion reached the draw with a penalty at 90+10', saving the invincibility of Jorge Jesus' team. With Rúben Neves starting for the away team, the Saudi Arabian runners-up could not have asked for a better start. The Portuguese duo of the Al-Awwal Park team kicked off, saw the ball reach Ospina and, in the blink of an eye, it was CR7 who assisted the former FC Porto player for an early goal, from outside the area. Luís Castro's team had the most dangerous chances in the first half and came close to extending their lead twice, both through Cristiano Ronaldo, although without any changes to the score. In the second half, Milinkovic-Savic even managed to put the ball in the back of the net, after the hour mark, but the assistant ruled out the move because he saw that the ball had crossed the end line before the shot that would have given the equalizer in a derby that turned out to be quite... 'heated'. Until the final whistle, Mitrovic and Malcom came close to the equalizer, but Cristiano Ronaldo and Mané (with a ball on the iron) also came close to sentencing the doubts in the final stretch. In stoppage time, Abdulhamid asked for a penalty for an elbow by Mané inside the area and, after a long dialogue with the VAR, he ended up seeing the images and pointing to the penalty spot, allowing the equalizer goal at 90+10'. With this result, Al Hilal now has 90 points, entering the last two rounds, against Al Nassr's 78. [News updated at 9:10 pm] Also Read: Cristiano Ronaldo assists, Otávio scores. Al Nassr's celebrations in the derby (Portuguese version)

Lineups

Al Nassr:

|| Starting lineup,@AlNassrFC vs #AlHilal pic.twitter.com/t0Tg5NdoBP

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) May 17, 2024

Al Hilal:

Our Starting XI and Subs for tonight’s match ️#AlHilal #RoshnSaudiLeague pic.twitter.com/xvuOCcotfH

— AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) May 17, 2024

Preview

The day has come for one of the most anticipated duels in the Saudi Arabian championship. Al Nassr is preparing to host its rival and champion Al Hilal, this Friday, in the penultimate round, in a Riyadh derby that promises to capture a lot of attention despite the title already being awarded.

With 29 wins and only two draws, Jorge Jesus intends to maintain his invincibility in the Saudi Arabian championship until the end of the competition, something that will be severely 'tested' by Cristiano Ronaldo and Otávio's team, led by Luís Castro, with 12 points in between.

It is worth mentioning that, throughout the current season, the Riyadh rivals have already faced each other four times. After Al Nassr's first and only triumph (1-2) in the Arab Champions Cup final, Al Hilal responded with three wins (3-0 in the championship, 2-0 in a friendly and 2-1 in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup), it is worth mentioning that the last derby was marked by a controversial expulsion of CR7, due to an aggression against a teammate of Rúben Neves.

The game is scheduled to start at 7 pm (Continental Portugal time), Al-Awwal Park, and you can follow the incidents of the match, live, on Desporto ao Minuto.

Also Read: CIES places Gyokeres ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the top 10 forwards (Portuguese version)