Anger was evident on Cristiano Ronaldo's face, and Al Nasr coach Rudi Garcia criticized the performance of his players after a frustrating draw with Al-Fayhaa without goals in a result that could mean "checkmate" for the team in chess language in the fight for the title of the Saudi Professional Football League.

The imprint of Ronaldo, whose tally stopped at 11 goals in 10 league games, as well as his teammate Anderson Talisca, who shares the top scorer in the competition with 16 goals, did not appear on Sunday.

Ronaldo left the Fayhaa Stadium angry and frustrated and was talking sharply to some of those there, took off the armband and held it in his hand.

Ronaldo after the end of the match #Al-Fayha_Al-Nasr | #SSC pic.twitter.com/qVRsRFK2iU

— Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) April 9, 2023

Leaders Al-Ittihad took the opportunity to extend the gap to 3 points with second-placed Al-Nasr before the last 7 rounds with a 2-1 victory over Al-Wahda, and Al-Ittihad also excels in the direct confrontation.

Double strengthens the Union's lead in the league 🔝🟡

🎥 • Watch the goals of the match ⬇️ #UnitUnitUnion | #SSC pic.twitter.com/AeMlGieJLt

— Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) April 9, 2023

France's Garcia told Saudi sports company SSC via an interpreter: "The result is definitely bad and we are not happy. We had chances but from 18 shots there were 3 impactful shots."

"The result was bad for us, we played against a good team and I'm not happy with the players' performance."

Rudi Garcia – Coach #Al-Nasr#Al-Fayha_Al-Nasr | #SSC pic.twitter.com/aUGzZr0oqy

— Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) April 9, 2023

"Our level was not good and I don't feel good about the performance of the players, I asked them to have their level like the last game (in the 5-0 win over Justice) but that didn't happen."

Al Nasr will clash with rivals Al Hilal, the defending champions and Asian champions, next week in a match that may determine the shape of the competition for the title.

For sneaking. Talisca ⚽️❌ Goal Canceled #الفيحاء_النصر | #SSC pic.twitter.com/7Pj3nCFj2g

— Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) April 9, 2023

The former Roma, Olympique de Marseille and Lyon coach continued: "There are seven games left and we will try to recover and we realize that it is not easy after we lost two points, but anything is possible."

Race for the lead 🔥

🥇Al-Ittihad moves away and Al-Nasr drops two🥈 points#SSC pic.twitter.com/TQ94u8csNC

— Saudi Sports Company SSC (@ssc_sports) April 9, 2023

Al-Fayha's Twitter page published a picture of team captain Sami Al-Khaibari sitting in front of Ronaldo at a chess table, in the manner of a famous advertisement between rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano, and wrote "checkmate", in a post that gained wide spread and reached more than 1.9 million views, while usually most of the page's posts reach less than 100,<> views.

Checkmate #الفيحاء pic.twitter.com/xCmXsLkjrp 😏💪🏻🧡

— Al Fayhaa Saudi Club (@Alfaihaclub) April 9, 2023