Cristiano Ronaldo sends encouraging message to Al Nassr after losing streak ends amid Al Shabab referee complaint
Cristiano Ronaldo helped bring an end to Al Nassr’s losing streak last Saturday with a controversial yet thrilling 3-2 home win over Al Shabab. While the visitors filed a formal complaint over the referee’s performance, the Portuguese star delivered an encouraging message to his teammates and supporters.
Al Nassr struck early, opening the scoring in the second minute after Saad Balobaid turned the ball into his own net, with Ronaldo nearly getting a touch on the play, before Kingsley Coman doubled the lead in the eighth minute. Al Shabab responded through an own goal by Mohamed Simakan and a strike from Carlos Carvalho, but Vincent Sierro’s red card shifted the momentum, and Abdulrahman Ghareeb netted the winner in the 76th minute.
After Saturday’s victory, Ronaldo, who did not register a goal or an assist but played the full 90 minutes, took to social media to address the result: “Proud of this team. We did what we needed to do. Thank you to the fans for supporting us all the way!“
The start of 2026 has been a difficult stretch for Al Nassr after recording the best opening run in Saudi Pro League history earlier in the season. The year began with a 3-2 loss to Al Ahli on January 2, followed by a 2-1 defeat to Al Qadsiah on January 8, before Al Hilal completed a 3-1 comeback last week to extend their lead at the top of the table.
With the win over Al Shabab, Al Nassr remain second in the 2025-26 Saudi Pro League standings with 34 points from 15 matches, seven behind leaders Al Hilal. They return to action on Wednesday the 21st against 15th-place Damac, a key opportunity for Ronaldo and company to regain momentum.
Al Shabab and the complaint toward the referee
Despite surrendering an early two-goal deficit, Al Shabab showed resilience by leveling the match at Al Awwal Park in another hard-fought outing for Al Nassr. The turning point came in the 67th minute when Vincent Sierro received a second yellow card for a contested foul on Coman, leaving his side down to 10 men and paving the way for the hosts’ winner.
After the match, Al Shabab released a statement addressing their complaint over the officiating: “The Al Shabab Club administration expresses its strong condemnation and regret regarding the repeated and impactful refereeing errors that have plagued the team’s matches in the Saudi Professional League recently. These errors have affected several matches, most notably the game against Al-Taawoun, in addition to the mistakes that occurred in today’s match against Al-Nassr, which directly altered the course and outcome of the game.
In a refereeing climate that Ronaldo has also criticized in recent weeks, including allegations involving Al Hilal, Al Shabab concluded its statement by announcing further action: “Accordingly, the club’s management will submit an official letter to the Referees Committee requesting that the team’s upcoming matches not be assigned to any refereeing teams that have previously been the subject of objections by the club.“