Cristiano Ronaldo showed his true colours on Monday night after insisting he had not been fouled in the penalty area during Al Nassr’s showdown with Persepolis in the AFC Champions League. Al Nassr had been awarded a penalty less than two minutes into the encounter, but Ronaldo waved his finger in front of the referee to show the official he had not been illegally halted.
Al Nassr had won all four of their AFC Champions League encounters ahead of Monday’s clash and topped Group E of the competition ahead of second-place Persepolis. And they named a star-studded line-up for their latest encounter as former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte and ex-Liverpool winger Sadio Mane both started.
The showdown began in frenetic fashion as Mane raced down the right before crossing the ball into the penalty area. Ronaldo got on the end of the pass but saw his effort blocked. He was then given the opportunity to control the ball in the penalty area following a sloppy touch from Persepolis ace Soroush Rafiei. And Rafiei then appeared to wipe the Portugal international out as he went to ground and attempted a tackle.
Following the incident, the referee instantly pointed to the penalty spot before he was surrounded by Persepolis players. And after picking himself up off the floor, Ronaldo wandered over to the official and made it clear that he had not been fouled. The referee then reversed the decision as the match remained goalless.
Ronaldo would have been confident his team had enough firepower to win the match without needing a controversial penalty decision to give them a helping hand. But the home side were dealt a huge blow 17 minutes into the contest as centre-back Ali Lajami was shown a red card for a late tackle. And neither team were able to break the deadlock ahead of the interval.
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