Al Nassr 1-1 Al Hilal: Bento last-moment own goal puts Ronaldo’s title celebrations on hold

Al-Nassr were made to wait to clinch the Saudi Pro League title as Bento's own goal eight minutes into second-half stoppage time saw Al-Hilal escape Al-Awwal Park with a 1-1 draw.

Match Report 

Al-Nassr knew a victory against their closest rivals would give them an unassailable eight-point lead and secure their first title in the Cristiano Ronaldo era. 

But, given an Al-Hilal win would move them within two points of the summit with a game in hand, it was all to play for, and Bento's calamitous error from the final action of the game kept the visitors' slim title hopes alive.

Al-Hilal had a glorious chance to go ahead within four minutes, but Karim Benzema placed his effort too close to Bento, with that miss causing visiting boss Simone Inzaghi to drop to his knees on the touchline.  

Benzema was not wayward when picked out by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's cross 15 minutes later, but his downward header was disallowed due to the Serbian drifting offside.

And it was Al-Nassr who got the breakthrough eight minutes before half-time. After Marcelo Brozovic's corner prompted a scramble, Mohamed Simakan placed a well-struck volley into the bottom-left corner. 

Kingsley Coman should have made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time but rattled the post with only Yassine Bounou to beat, while Ronaldo passed up his best chance of the game almost immediately after the interval.

Al-Hilal did most of the attacking from that moment on, knowing a draw would at least give them the opportunity to take the title race to the final matchday. 

And after Al-Nassr withdrew Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had to watch on from the bench as his team capitulated. A long throw was launched into the hosts' area, and as Bento came out to claim it with no Al-Hilal players in the vicinity, he collided with his team-mate Inigo Martinez and saw the ball spin into the net.

Al-Hilal face Neom in their game in hand on Saturday, and a win in that match would mean they could snatch the title if they better Al-Nassr's result on the final matchday. 

Data Debrief: Al-Hilal stay alive

Al-Hilal, improbably, are still unbeaten in the Saudi Pro League this season and, after Bento's late mistake, have only lost one of their last 19 Pro League matches against fellow Riyadh clubs (W12 D6).

Al-Nassr can count themselves unfortunate not to already be celebrating their 11th domestic title, having had nine shots with a total expected goals (xG) value of 1.4, compared to Al-Hilal's 0.8 xG from seven shots.  

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

4' Match Event for Al Nassr FC vs Al Hilal

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37' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 1-0 Al Hilal (Mohamed Simakan)

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83' Match Event for Al Nassr FC vs Al Hilal

85' Match Event for Al Nassr FC vs Al Hilal

92' Red Card! Sent Off

98' GOAL! Al Nassr FC 1-1 Al Hilal (Bento)

Line-ups

Al Nassr FC XI: Ronaldo, Brozovic, I. Martinez, Mane, Coman, Felix, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Ali Al-Hassan, Mohamed Simakan, Bento, Nawaf Boushal

Subs: Sultan Al-Ghannam, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Nader Al-Sharari, Ayman Yahya, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Mohammed Marran, Saad Al-Nasser, Salem Al Najdi

Al Hilal XI: Benzema, Bounou, Salem Al Dawsari, Neves, Milinkovic-Savic, Mohammed Kanoo, Malcom, Theo, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Hassan Tambakti, Moteb Al-Harbi

Subs: Sultan Mandash, Ali Lajami, Mohammed Al-Yami, Marcos Leonardo, Ahmad Aburasyin, Murad Al-Hawsawi, Yusuf Akçiçek, Abdulkarim Darisi