The opening weeks of a new calendar year rarely threaten to redefine a legend’s story. Yet when Cristiano Ronaldo is involved, even a short run of results can feel historically significant. At club level, the Portuguese star has endured a turbulent start to 2026, one that deepened with another painful setback in the Saudi Pro League and quietly pushed his personal narrative into unfamiliar territory.
For Al-Nassr, the latest defeat is not just another loss. It’s a continuation of a worrying pattern, one that has turned what looked like a title challenge into a season suddenly teetering on the edge. And although Ronaldo once again delivered on the scoresheet, his goal could not prevent a collapse that now carries both sporting and symbolic weight.
The Saudi capital rarely witnesses a quiet derby, and the meeting with Al-Hilal at Kingdom Arena was no exception. With the league’s top two sides facing off, the stakes were enormous. The hosts arrived unbeaten and confident, while Al-Nassr were desperate to halt a slide that had already begun to alarm supporters.
The opening phase suggested a different outcome. Al-Nassr played with intensity and purpose, pressing higher than in recent matches and looking to exploit transitions quickly. Ronaldo, sharp and alert, was central to everything. In the 42nd minute, his influence paid off. A slick attacking move ended with the Portuguese forward finishing clinically, giving his side a 1-0 lead and momentarily silencing the home crowd.
At half-time, Al-Nassr was ahead, and the match felt delicately poised. But derbies are often decided not by moments of brilliance, but by reactions to chaos.
One decision that changed everything
Soccer, especially in derbies, can shift in seconds. After the break, Al-Hilal emerged with renewed intensity, pinning Al-Nassr deeper and forcing mistakes. The equalizer arrived from the penalty spot after a clumsy challenge inside the box, calmly converted by Salem Al-Dawsari to restore parity.
What followed proved decisive. In the chaos of the restart, Al-Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi became embroiled in an altercation, initially escaping with a yellow card before VAR intervened. The decision was upgraded to red, leaving Al-Nassr reduced to ten men for the final half hour.
From that moment, the balance of power tilted sharply. Al-Hilal increased the pressure, circulating possession, and stretching their depleted opponent. The breakthrough came when Mohamed Kanno guided home a corner to complete the comeback, before a second late penalty sealed a 3-1 victory and sent the home crowd into celebration.
The hidden milestone that defines this start
The final whistle confirmed more than a derby defeat. Al-Hilal now sits seven points clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League, extending a formidable winning streak and tightening its grip on the title race. Al-Nassr, meanwhile, has now lost three consecutive league matches, its longest losing run in years.
Midway through the analysis, an extraordinary detail emerges — one that underlines how rare this situation truly is. For the first time in his entire professional career, Cristiano Ronaldo has begun a calendar year with three consecutive defeats. Across spells in England, Spain, Italy, and now Saudi Arabia, such a sequence at the very start of a year had never occurred before.
Al-Nassr’s January results
In a career defined by immediate rebounds and relentless winning, this statistic stands out as a genuine anomaly. It does not diminish decades of dominance, but it highlights just how far the current moment deviates from the norm that Ronaldo himself established.
