Familiar foe masterminds Ronaldo's Super Cup exit as goalless start extends

Cristiano Ronaldo's quest at winning his first trophy since moving to the Middle-East came to an abrupt end in the Saudi Super Cup semi-final.

His Al-Nassr side were beaten 3-1 by Al-Ittihad at the King Fahd Stadium thanks to a masterclass from Nuno Espirito Santo's men.

They were terrific in every aspect, especially on the counter-attack, and opened the scoring through Romarinho's fine effort. Abderrazak Hamdallah then doubled Al-Ittihad's advantage to leave Ronaldo and his teammates shell-shocked heading into the break.

Although Anderson Talisca pulled one back for Al-Nassr midway through the second-half, Al-Ittihad stood firm and swept up the pressure before scoring another on the break. Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti struck in the 93rd minute to seal their passage into the final on Sunday.

But for Ronaldo, it will be a massive blow as he suffers his first defeat since making the switch to Al-Nassr earlier this month. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner had a couple of chances to score but was fairly quiet throughout for the second successive match after blanking on his debut.

Follow the action as it played out below...

20:16Kieran King

Ronaldo OUT - 5 talking points

Cristiano Ronaldo endured a miserable night as his Al Nassr team were knocked out of the Saudi Super Cup by Al Ittihad.

In his second game for his new club since leaving Manchester United, Ronaldo again captained the Knights of Najd. But the superstar struggled in the semi-final, missing a golden chance to equalise after Romarinho put Al Ittihad ahead following a well-worked team move.

Al Ittihad doubled their lead through Abderrazak Hamdallah, before Al-Nassr pulled a goal back through Anderson Talisca in the second-half. But Muhannad Shanqeeti buried any hope of comeback with Al Ittihad's third goal in stoppage time.

Read more here.

20:08KEY EVENT

FULL-TIME | Al-Ittihad 3-1 Al-Nassr

There goes the final whislte and Al-Ittihad have progressed into the Saudi Super Cup final with a win over Ronaldo's Al-Nassr.

Goals from Romarinho, Hamdallah and Shaqueeti seal the deal for Nuno Espirito Santo's side.

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GOAL! Shanqueeti! 3-1

That's it, surely!

Al-Ittihad have scored a third to surely seal the win.

Shanqueeti has his name on the scoresheet as he is played through on the break before slotting into the corner.

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Waste from Talisca

Ronaldo is hacked down just outside the box.

Talisca takes the resulting free-kick but his effort flies over the bar.

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Nine minutes added on

Nine minutes have been added on at the end of this game.

Can Al-Nassr score another to level?

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Romarinho superb again

The Brazilian has been superb today and does some more unselfish work for his team as he runs in behind before winning a free-kick.

Excellent from Romarinho

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Ronaldo quiet

Ronaldo has been isolated in the second-half and just had that one chance, which he fired over.

He has just chased a long ball that could be said that he was chasing shadows, rather than anything promising.

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A rare Al-Ittihad chance

Romarinho runs through and pulls the ball back.

It eventually falls to Shanqueeti, who fires it first-time and his effort takes a massive deflection before the goalkeeper collects it.

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Superb from Al-Bishi

Excellent work from Al-Bishi to take the pressure off the Al-Ittihad defence.

He drives from inside his own half towards the byline, before holding the ball up and winning a corner.

The resulting take is cleared, however.

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10 minutes to go

Into the final 10 minutes at the King Fahd Stadium and Al-Ittihad are just about hanging on to their lead.

Al-Nassr are dominating possession without a cutting edge yet.

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Cynical yellow card

Al-Sharahli has been shown a yellow card for a cynical foul on Talisca.

Al-Nassr look the more likely to score here.

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Ronaldo effort

Chance for Al-Nassr as the ball flies across the edge of the box to Ronaldo, who hits it first-team.

But the ball baloons over the crossbar.

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Raucous Al-Nassr crowd

The Al-Nassr fans are bang up for this now.

Talisca's strike has got them going here and you fancy them to score another.

67'KEY EVENT

GOAL! Talisca! 2-1

Well, then! Al-Nassr have once back!

It's Talisca who has found the net with an excellent first-time finish.

Game on!

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Over the bar

Ronaldo takes the free-kick but his effort is too high and flies over the bar.

It's a dissapointing effort from the forward.

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Free-kick for Al-Nassr

This is a huge chance for Al-Nassr to pull one back.

It's truly Ronaldo territory...

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Konan tries his luck

Al-Nassr are getting frustrated here as they try and get back into the game.

Konan has tried his luck from range but it goes well wide.

Still 2-0 to Al-Ittihad.

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Ronaldo chance

Ronaldo has just had a half chance to score.

However, he is unable to get on the end of a long ball and the goalkeeper collects before Ronaldo can get on the end of it.

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Al-Ittihad counter

Another fierce counter-attack from Al-Ittihad sees Colorado play a ball through to Romarinho but his pass is too heavy.

Despite Al-Nassr's promising start, they still do look vunerable at the back and Nuno's side will be keen to score more

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Chance for Al-Nassr

Al-Nassr have started the second-half well and are putting pressure on Al-Itiihad to pull one back.

Gustavo has just flicked one towards goal but it is deflected out for a corner.

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No penalty

Talisca bursts into the area but goes down until minimal contact as he tries to win a penalty.

But the referee doesn't agree with the Brazilian and waves play on.

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Back underway

The game is back underway at the King Fahd Stadium.

Al-Nassr have made two half-time changes as they try and force their way back into the contest

18:54KEY EVENT

HALF-TIME | Al-Ittihad 2-0 Al-Nassr

Ronaldo's side are heading out barring a special second-half comeback thanks to goals from Romarinho and Hamdallah.

It has been a superb performance from Al-Ittihad, but Al-Nassr have got a lot of work to do.

43'KEY EVENT

GOAL! Hamdallah! 2-0

Wow!

Al-Ittihad have done it again on the counter-attack and it's Hamdallah who has scored this time with a super header.

It came a matter of seconds after Ronaldo's missed chance as he was denied his first goal in Saudi league football.

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Ronaldo close

Ronaldo should score.

What a chance that is for the forward, who connects onto a cross, but his close-range header is somehow kept out.

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Disappointing end product

Al-Nassr have a rare chance to get the ball into the box towards Ronaldo as Martinez shapes himself to cross.

However, his delivery is poor and doesn't even reach Ronaldo before landing on the top of the net.

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Al-Nassr yet to have shot on target

Ronaldo has cut a frustrated figure on his own up front so far, with Al-Nassr failing to have a shot on target.

Talisca has tried to create something for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, but it just isn't happening for them at the minute.

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What a chance

Al-Ittihad have taken control of this game and should be at least two in front.

A free-kick was curled to the back post into Romarinho's path and the forward was free to hit it first time.

However, he was unable to get a good connection and completely fluffed his kick.

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Penalty shout

In the next phase following Romarinho's chance, Henrique went down inside the box amid calls for a penalty.

However, the referee wanted nothing to do with it and waved away appeals.

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Huge chance

Massive opportunity for Al-Ittihad to double their advantage as they break well on the left-hand side.

The ball is ferociously whipped to the back post towards Romarinho, but the Brazilian is intercepted just before he can get a shot away.