Al-Nassr have won the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup after beating arch-rivals Al-Hilal 2-1 in Riyadh derby final.
Having both made it to the knockout stages as group runner-ups, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal had a straight and comfortable way to the final.
Al-Nassr had to beat Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca 3-1 and then Iraq’s Al-Shorta 1-0 to reach their first-ever Arab Club Champions Cup final.
Meanwhile, Al-Hilal had an all-Saudi route to the final, beating first Ittihad Jeddah 3-1 and then Al-Shabab with the same result in the semi-finals.
The final set up a Riyadh derby, also known as the capital derby, between the biggest two teams in the Saudi capital.
Al-Nassr XI: Al-Aqidi; S. Al-Ghannam, Al-Oujami, Al Amri, Telles; Fofana, Brozovic; Al Khaibari, Talisca, Mane; Ronaldo.
Al-Hilal XI: Al Owias; Abdulhamid, Koulibaly, Al Boleahi, Al Shahrani; Kanno, Neves, Michael, Milinkovic-Savic, Al Dawsari; Malcom.
It didn’t take long for both teams to showcase their quality, with Neves missing the target from outside the box, before he blocked a dangerous strike from Fofana inside the penalty area.
But the first real chance of the game came in the 18th minute when Sadio Mane found an unmarked Brozovic inside the box with an inch-perfect cross, but the latter’s header was denied brilliantly by Al Owias.
With a minute left on the half-time whistle, Ronaldo had a huge chance to put his side ahead, but his effort from eight yards went straight and weak at the keeper.
The second-half started with a bang as Al-Hilal managed to lead the lead in the 51st minute after a great linkup play between Ruben Neves, Al-Dawsari, and Malcom ended with the latter finding Michael, whose diving header went past Al-Aqidi.
In the 70th minute, things went from bad to worse for Al-Nassr as Malcom found himself through on goal with just the keeper to beat, but was brought down by Abdulelah Al Amri for the referee to show him a straight red card after a VAR review.
Despite being a man down, Al-Nassr managed to find the equaliser just three minutes later, after Sultan Al Ghannam found space down the right side, before playing a low cross for Ronaldo, who easily tapped the ball in from close range.
In the 83rd minute, Ronaldo thought he put Al-Nassr into the lead, but the goal was ruled out for offside after being put through by Brozovic.
Deep into the added time, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic had the chance to win his side the title after beating the keeper to Ruben Neves’ cross, but his header went inches wide.
A minute later, Malcom toyed with Sadio Mane before striking from a narrow angle for Al-Aqidi to parry the ball into the path of Michael, who had an open goal in front of him, but the Brazilian couldn’t find the finishing touch.
Eight minutes into the extra-time, Cristiano Ronaldo scored what proved to be the winner after Sadio Mane had initially his shot cleared by the defence, before the loose ball was met by a first-touch strike by Fofana which hit the post, but the rebound was met by Ronaldo with a header into the empty net.
Ronaldo was forced out with an injury with only two minutes left to be played, but that didn’t matter as ten-men Al-Nassr managed to hold on to win the Arab Cup title.
With six goals Ronaldo claimed the top scorer award and lifted his first trophy in Saudi Arabia and his 32nd overall.
Meanwhile, Sergej Milinković-Savić was awarded the MVP award for his strong performances throughout the competition.
