In a heated showdown on Monday, Al-Nassr's captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, was given his marching orders late in the game as his team suffered a 2-1 defeat against city rivals Al-Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup semifinal in Abu Dhabi.

The incident occurred just four minutes before the final whistle, with Portugal's all-time leading goal scorer receiving a straight red card for elbowing an opponent. This came as Al-Nassr trailed 2-0, managing to score a late consolation goal despite Ronaldo's dismissal.

Jorge Jesus' Al-Hilal opened the scoring in the 62nd minute when Salem Al-Dawsari slotted the ball into the bottom right corner from a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic flick after a quick break.

Brazilian forward Malcolm doubled the lead in the 72nd with a fine header after Michael's long cross from the right found his compatriot unmarked in the center of the box.

Former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane got Al-Nassr on the scoresheet in stoppage time off Abdulrahman Ghareeb's pass.

Al-Hilal will seek a record-extending fourth title in Thursday's final when they face Karim Benzema's Al-Ittihad, who beat Al-Wehda 2-1 in the earlier semi-final on Monday.