Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off late on as his side lost 2-1 to city rivals Al Hilal in their Saudi Super Cup semi-final after a heated clash in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Portugal’s record scorer was shown a straight red card four minutes from time for elbowing an opponent when his side were 2-0 down before they scored a late consolation.
Jorge Jesus’ 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 centre of the box. Former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane got Nassr on the scoresheet in stoppage time off Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s pass. Hilal will seek a record-extending fourth title in tomorrow’s final when they face Karim Benzema’s Al Ittihad, who beat Al Wehda 2-1 in the earlier semi-final on Monday.

Football director Murtough to leave Manchester United
John Murtough is to step down as football director of Manchester United and leave Old Trafford, the faltering Premier League giants said. United are overhauling their structure following Jim Ratcliffe’s acquisition of a 25 percent stake in the club, which saw the chairman of chemicals giant Ineos take control of football operations.
Ratcliffe is especially keen to overhaul recruitment at United, with the club reportedly looking to bring in Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth and Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox as members of a new leadership team, with Murtough’s exit described as a “mutual” decision.
United’s 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool left the Red Devils sixth in the Premier League table, but 11 points behind fifth-placed Aston Villa in the race for European football. United still have a chance to win a trophy this season after coming from 2-1 and 3-2 down to beat Liverpool 4-3 in a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford that secured a last-four tie with second-tier Coventry.

Rubiales to testify on April 29 over Spain football graft scandal
A Spanish judge summoned disgraced ex-football chief Luis Rubiales to testify on April 29 over an alleged graft scandal at the national federation (RFEF) when he was president, court documents showed. The 46-year-old returned to Spain from the Dominican Republic on April 3 and was briefly detained at the airport as part of a probe into federation contracts signed since 2018, including one signed by Rubiales to take the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia.
Rubiales’ return to Spain came two weeks after investigators searched 11 locations, including the RFEF’s Madrid headquarters and his house in the southern city of Granada, as part of a probe into alleged corruption and other crimes. The March 20 raids were part of “an investigation linked to presumed crimes linked with corruption in business, fraudulent administration and money laundering”, judicial sources said. The Super Cup contracts are worth 40mn euros a year ($43.3mn) with the deal brokered by Kosmos, a company owned by former Barcelona and Spain defender Gerard Pique. During the raids, police arrested the RFEF’s legal director Pedro Gonzalez Segura and its head of human resources Jose Javier Jimenez as well as the federation’s external legal adviser Tomas Gonzalez Cueto.