Al-Nassr dominated possession in the first half from the opening whistle, but neither side were able to find the net despite multiple chances to go ahead.
It wasn’t until the 41st minute, when deafening chants rang out from the Ronaldo faithful in the crowd, that the 40-year-old Portugal star converted his 100th goal for Al-Nassr on a penalty kick to put his team ahead 1-0.
It was an historic moment for the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, in what was his 100th goal for the Saudi Arabian club.
But it didn’t take long for Al-Ahli to draw level, with midfielder Frank Kessie scoring on a slick finish from the left just before the break.
Both sides came close to breaking the deadlock from the start of the second half, but were unable to take advantage as the score remained tied at 1-1 by the 80th minute.
With their backs against the wall, it was Marcelo Brozovic who was the hero for Al-Nassr in the 82nd — with the Croatian finding the net to put them 2-1 up.
But celebrations were quickly muted, as Roger Ibenez drew Al-Ahli level with a goal just before stoppage time to stun the Al-Nassr faithful.
With the score locked at 2-2 after full-time, the match went into a decisive penalty shoot-out.
Things were even during the shootout until Al-Ahli’s goalkeeper Édouard Mendy made a decisive save to deny Al-Khaibari’s kick. Galeno calmly converted his kick subsequently to make it 5-3 and secured his team the title.
The Saudi Super Cup marked another large-scale football spectacle for the SAR, coming on the heels of July’s Hong Kong Football Festival at Kai Tak Stadium, which featured four top European clubs.