Cristiano Ronaldo skied a last-minute penalty as Al-Nassr were dumped out of the King's Cup by Al-Taawoun.

After an encouraging start to Stefano Pioli's reign, Al-Nassr are once struggling to win matches. A late Anderson Talisca penalty saved their blushes against Al-Kholood last Friday but on Tuesday evening they were knocked out of the cup competition following a 1-0 defeat.

The first half was a snooze-fest with Ronaldo & Co. hardly able to pose any serious threat to the opposition goal. The Portuguese talisman tested the goalkeeper with a direct free-kick but Mailson dos Santos dived at the nick of time to keep it out. In fact, it were the hosts who got the better chances to score on the counter and if it was not for a last-ditch tackle from Mohamed Simakan in the final minutes of the opening half, Pioli's men would have been chasing the game much earlier.

With his team struggling to create any significant scoring opportunities, Ronaldo was forced to drop deep and get more involved after the break. Although it did add some more teeth to attack, his efforts were not enough which forced Pioli to make a triple substitution after the hour mark as Otavio, Abdulrahman Ghareeb and Sultan Al-Ghannam were thrown into the mix. But the manager was left clutching his face with his hands after Al-Taawoun drew first blood from a corner as his defence was caught napping by Waleed Al-Ahmed. With time running out, Al-Nassr did show some urgency and were even lucky to earn a spot-kick deep into stoppage time, but Ronaldo fired his attempt over the crossbar which condemned the Knights of Najd to a disappointing loss.

Al-Ahmed's 71st-minute strike was the difference between the two sides as Al-Nassr were sent packing from the competition. The defender was unmarked and he ran in fiercely from the edge of the six-yard box to attack the ball. It was a bullet header which gave the goalkeeper no chance to keep it out.

Pioli must shoulder the blame for the shocking result. Alarm bells were already ringing after their lacklustre performance against Al-Kholood and Tuesday's defeat highlights the deeper malaise within the team. The Italian manager must go back to the drawing board and chalk out a fresh blueprint which would extract the best out of the likes of Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic and Sadio Mane. There's no dearth of talent but a clear lack of ideas and strategy.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo also cannot escape the wrath of the fans after missing the spot-kick. The stage was set for the Portuguese to emerge as the saviour but this time it was not meant to be. He slightly tweaked his run-up and decided to go for power down the middle, but couldn't keep his shot down as the ball sailed into the stands behind the goal.

Al-Nassr have little time to regroup as they face Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal in a fierce top-flight contest on Friday.