Ronaldo scores twice from the penalty spot, ending 2023 with 53 goals

Al Nassr traveled to Al Ittihad's home field on the evening of December 26 with a record of three wins and one draw in their last four matches. Ronaldo and his teammates, despite being away, entered the match confidently and quickly created an overwhelming situation.

However, Al Ittihad also showed their mettle when playing at home. In the 14th minute, Karim Benzema made his mark with an assist for Hamdallah to open the score for Al Ittihad.

Ronaldo shined with a double to help Al Nassr defeat Al Ittihad (Photo: Getty).

But just 5 minutes later, the French striker himself committed a foul in the penalty area, bringing a penalty to Al Nassr. On the 11m mark, Cristiano Ronaldo easily scored the equalizer 1-1 for the away team.

Al Nassr played better and better, while Al Ittihad's defense kept making mistakes. In the 38th minute, Talisca put Al Nassr ahead 2-1 after a skillful handling and finishing in the penalty area.

The second half was exciting and in the 51st minute, Hamdallah completed his double to equalize 2-2 for Al Ittihad. The highlight of the match came in the 66th minute, when the referee showed a red card to Fabinho for a foul in the penalty area and awarded a penalty to Al Nassr.

Once again, CR7 completed his task brilliantly from the penalty spot, raising the score to 3-2. Another Al Nassr star, Sadio Mane also scored a double in the 75th and 82nd minutes, closing out a 5-2 victory for Al Nassr.

With this result, Al Nassr firmly consolidated second place in the Saudi Arabian national championship (Saudi Pro League) with 43 points/18 matches, 7 points behind the team above Al Hilal. Meanwhile, Al Ittihad ranked 6th with 28 points.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended the season with 53 goals, surpassing Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe, who both scored 52. With Kane and Mbappe both having finished their 2023 fixtures, Ronaldo is likely to win the title of top scorer of the year.

Erling Haaland currently has 50 goals and still has a chance to catch up with Ronaldo. However, the Norwegian striker is injured and will likely miss the two matches between Man City and Everton on December 28 and Sheffield United on December 30.

Line-up

Al Ittihad : Al Mayouf, Al Sahafi, Fabinho, Kadesh, Al Hawsawi (Al Obud 70'), Kante, Al Ghamdi, Romarinho, Hamed Allah (Al Amri 86'), Coronado (Farhan 70'), Benzema

Goal: Hamdallah (14', 51')

Al Nassr: Nawaf, Lajami (Al Amri 88'), Laporte, Telles (Qasem 88'), Al Ghannam, Brozovic, Fofana (Al Khaibari 67'), Mane (Ghareeb 87'), Otavio (Al Sulaiheem 87'), Talisca, Ronaldo.

Goals: Ronaldo (pen 19', pen 68'), Talisca (38'), Mane (75', 82')

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/ronaldo-lap-cu-dup-tren-cham-phat-den-khep-lai-nam-2023-voi-53-ban-thang-20231227065227222.htm