Soccer-Bento blunder delays Al Nassr's title celebrations


Soccer Football - Saudi Pro League - Al Nassr v Al Hilal - Al Awwal Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - May 12, 2026 Al Nassr's fans react after Al Nassr's Bento scored an own goal and the first for Al Hilal REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

RIYADH, ⁠May 12 (Reuters) - Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento scored a ⁠98th-minute own goal that denied his team ‌the chance to wrap up the Saudi Pro League title in a 1-1 draw with Al Hilal on Tuesday.

Al Nassr were ​seconds away from clinching the title ⁠for the first time ⁠since the 2018-2019 season when Brazil international Bento failed ⁠to ‌claim a long Al Hilal throw-in, with the ball bouncing into his own net.

With ⁠one match remaining, Al Nassr sit top ​of the ‌table with 83 points from 33 games, five ⁠points clear ​of second-placed Al Hilal, who have a game in hand.

Al Nassr will secure the title by beating Damac ⁠in their final match of the ​season on May 21 or they could be crowned champions if Al Hilal fail to beat Neom on ⁠Saturday.

Mohamed Simakan opened the scoring for hosts Al Nassr from a corner in the 37th minute and Kingsley Coman missed a huge chance to make ​it 2-0 near the interval, when ⁠his effortstruck the post.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who is still waiting ​for his first domestic trophy ‌with Al Nassr, saw an ​effort fly wide seconds after restart.

(Reporting by Mohamed Yossry in Cairo, editing by Toby Davis)

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