Cristiano Ronaldo sees red! Veteran raises his FIST towards the referee after being sent off for appearing to elbow and stamp on his opponent during Al-Nassr’s Saudi Cup semi-final defeat

Cristiano Ronaldo was so incensed after being sent off as Al-Nassr crashed out of the Saudi Super Cup, he had to stop himself from looking like he wanted to punch the referee. 

The Saudi side were already 2-0 down to Al-Hilal, when Ronaldo saw red following a clash with Ali Al-Bulaihi near the touchline. 

Al-Bulaihi tried to prevent the Portuguese from grabbing the ball to take a quick throw-in, leading to a square up between the two players. 

The Portuguese then appeared to throw an elbow in the direction of the Al-Hilal defender, sending him crashing to the floor and sparking a melee of pushing and shoving between the players, with the opposition unhappy at the challenge. 

Former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly went rushing in and was pushed, before Aymeric Laporte tried to act as peacemaker in the dramatic late scenes. 

The foul led to a brawl between the players and eventually saw Ronaldo being shown red 

He leaves the pitch incensed over the decision, which almost saw him punch the referee 

The foul led to a straight red card for the 39-year-old, leaving him so angry it saw him rage in the referee’s direction. 

So much so, Ronaldo motioned as if he wanted to throw a punch in the referee’s direction and has to force himself to not go through with it. 

As he was leaving the pitch he laid clear his disgust in the decision and told the crowd ‘”All of you are witnessing this robbery”. 

It was a controversial ending to a frustrating night for both club and player as they were eliminated from the competition by the Saudi Pro League leaders. 

Earlier in the game Ronaldo was booked following protests over a disallowed Al-Nassr goal 

Earlier in the night, Ronaldo had already clashed with the ref after Al-Nassr had a goal disallowed with the game still goalless. 

Otavio thought he had given his side the lead, but it was chalked off after Ronaldo had failed to make contact with the ball and Otavio was deemed to be in an offside position when he put the ball into the net. 

The Portuguese icon was shown a yellow card for his protesting over the disallowed goal, setting the wheels in motion for tempers to boil over later in the game.  

Salem Aldawsari and Malcom secured the win with two second half goals to proceed to the next round of the Saudi Super Cup, with Sadio Mane adding a late consolation deep into injury time for 10-man Al-Nassr.