Al-Nassr's Title Hopes Dashed in 98th Minute Draw
The fireworks were ready. The flags were out. Riyadh was braced for a coronation.
Instead, Al‑Nassr walked away stunned, the champagne still sealed, after a 1-1 draw with Al‑Hilal that turned on a single, chaotic moment deep into stoppage time.
A title party ripped up in the 98th minute
For 97 minutes, this looked like the night Jorge Jesus’ side would wrap their hands around the Saudi Pro League trophy. They had the lead, they had control, and they had their fiercest rivals exactly where they wanted them.
Then came the throw‑in.
Launched long and flat into the box, it should have been routine. Instead, it became a nightmare. Under pressure and misjudging the flight, Brazilian goalkeeper Bento got it horribly wrong, diverting the ball into his own net. In an instant, the stadium fell silent. Players froze. The title, so close they could almost feel the ribbons, slipped just out of reach.
There was no time to repair the damage. The whistle followed soon after. Two points gone. Celebration postponed.
Simakan’s opener, dominance without the kill
The cruelty of the finale cut even deeper because Al‑Nassr had done so much right. Mohamed Simakan’s first-half strike had given them a deserved lead, a reward for a performance that carried the authority of champions in waiting.
They controlled long stretches, dictated tempo, and forced Al‑Hilal onto the back foot. The chances were there to put the game away, to turn a tense derby into a procession. They never quite landed the knockout blow.
That wastefulness invited jeopardy. And in the 98th minute, jeopardy answered.
Ronaldo’s anguish on the bench
No image captured the emotional swing of the night more sharply than Cristiano Ronaldo on the touchline.
Substituted in the 83rd minute for Abdullah Al‑Hamdan, the 41‑year‑old captain could only watch as the drama unfolded without him. When Bento’s error hit the net, Ronaldo slumped back on the bench, staring into the distance, eyes glazed and wet as the reality of the draw settled in.
It had already been a night of frustration for him. He had gone close with a trademark long‑range strike, forcing a strong save from Yassine Bounou earlier in the match, but the spectacular moment he craved never arrived. The margins that have so often bent to his will refused to move.
On this night, even he was powerless.
A defiant message and a decisive week ahead
If the body language on the bench told one story, Ronaldo’s response after the final whistle told another. He went straight to social media and pushed the mood back towards defiance.
“The dream is close. Heads up, we have one more step to take! Thank you all for the amazing support tonight!” he wrote on Instagram, a reminder that the title remains in Al‑Nassr’s hands. The draw, painful as it was, did not break their position at the top. It simply made the final act non-negotiable.
Beat Damac FC in the last league game, and the trophy is theirs. Fail, and that 98th-minute own goal will haunt them for years.
A potential double – and a surreal scenario
The drama does not end with the league. It barely pauses.
Al‑Nassr now turn towards a defining week that could still deliver one of the most remarkable days in the club’s history. On Saturday, May 16, they face Japanese side Gamba Osaka in the final of the AFC Champions League Two, chasing continental glory to sit alongside their domestic push.
On the same afternoon, Al‑Hilal meet Neom in the league. The permutations are stark: while Ronaldo and his teammates are fighting for a trophy on one front, results elsewhere could mathematically crown them champions of Saudi Arabia at the very same time.
They could, quite literally, be playing one final while winning another title from afar.
For that scenario to carry the joy it promises, Al‑Nassr must first clear their heads. The images of Bento’s misjudgment, of a stunned stadium, of a captain in tears on the bench, will linger. The question now is simple and brutal:
Can a team that watched its party collapse in the 98th minute find the composure to finish the job when everything is still there to be won?
