Saudi Pro League round-up: Al-Hilal leave it late vs Damac

The Saudi Pro League is now home to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Riyad Mahrez.

With so much talent plying their trade there, LiveScore is the place to be for all the big talking points.

The run continues

Al-Hilal's world-record run of consecutive victories looked to be coming to an end at 28 during a tough home league match against Damac.

Domagoj Antolic equalised for the visitors in the 86th minute after had Salem Al-Dawsari opened the scoring and a draw looked a likely outcome.

But Damac were reduced to 10 men when Dhari Al-Anazi saw red and then up stepped Brazilian forward Michael to score a dramatic stoppage-time winner for the leaders — only his third league goal of the campaign.

World beaters

Al-Hilal set a new world record after securing their 28th consecutive win with a 2-0 victory over Al-Ittihad.

The success at their Saudi Pro League rivals booked Jorge Jesus' side a spot in the AFC Champions League semi-finals and surpassed the previous benchmark set by Welsh outfit The New Saints in 2016-17.

Jesus said: "Everyone at Al-Hilal is delighted to achieve world football history. Records do not matter as much as trophies, however. It is up to everyone to ensure we meet our targets in the cup competitions. Only then can we truly celebrate."

All gone Ron

Cristiano Ronaldo missed several big chances as Al-Nassr crashed out of the Asian Champions League in a thrilling shootout defeat to Al Ain.

A 3-3 aggregate draw saw the tie go to extra-time, where the visitors took the lead before Ronaldo levelled from the spot with just two minutes remaining.

By the time he had stepped up in the shootout, the superstar's side were already 2-0 down and despite converting his effort, Otavio's later miss saw the UAE outfit progress to the semi-finals.

Ronaldo somehow fired wide from three yards out earlier in the contest, which saw Al Ain's Emirati international goalkeeper Khalid Eisa named man of the match.

Lost in translation

Cristiano Ronaldo says the obscene gesture he made during a game that saw him banned for one Saudi Pro League match was just a big misunderstanding.

He said: "What I did was a misunderstanding. I will always respect the cultures of all countries but what people see is not always reality.

"Sometimes the passion of the game leads us to make some mistakes but everyone makes mistakes. Whenever I make them, I don't do it on purpose."

Thinking out Saud

Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley believes we will see a Saudi Pro League club enter the UEFA Champions League in the near future.

Speaking at the Bloomberg Power Players Summit, she said: "I'm quite sure there will be a Saudi club in the Champions League before long."

Staveley helped Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund with their purchase of Newcastle, who finished bottom of their Champions League group this season, from Mike Ashley in 2021.