Al-Hilal defeats Al-Nasr on penalties and wins the King’s Cup

Al-Hilal defeats Al-Nasr on penalties and wins the King’s Cup

Georgie Jesus, Al Hilal coach

On Friday, Al Hilal won the King's Cup title in Saudi Arabia, after defeating Al Nassr 5-4 in the final of the competition, which was held in Jeddah, on penalties. After a 1-1 draw in the 90th minute, not even extra time decided the match. This was the third trophy of the season for Jorge Jesus' side.

Al Hilal turned the score around early (seven minutes) with a perfect shot from Mitrovic after a good opening from Malcolm.

With Cristiano Ronaldo and Otavio starting for Al-Nasr, Luis Castro's team tried to turn things around, even after they started playing with ten players, due to the expulsion (a direct red card to goalkeeper David Ospina), who played the ball with one hand, outside the area.

Al Hilal, with Ruben Neves in the starting lineup, faced great difficulties in maintaining their advantage, while CR7 and his teammates did their best to avoid defeat. The Portuguese star scored an acrobatic shot, which shortly after the start of the second half led to a wonderful goal, from a scissor kick. The ball hit the post but was out of play. The star himself, later, was also close to the equalizer, but failed to score.

Two minutes before the end of regular time, Ayman equalized with a header after a free kick, the minute after Al Bulayhi was sent off, which put the two teams on equal footing with ten players each. But soon after, there was another sending off for Jorge Jesus' side, as Koulibaly headbutted the opposition goalkeeper and received a red card.

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A one-goal tie led to extra time, where the chances of breaking the tie were practically non-existent, leading to a tie-break through penalty shootouts. There, Al Hilal were more effective and won 5-4, securing the disputed cup.

By Melody Gross

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