Ronaldo continues to shine in Saudi Arabia

38-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice from penalties and assisted a goal as Al Nassr beat visiting team Al Shabab 4-0 in the Saudi Pro League.

Ronaldo could have scored a hat-trick from the penalty spot but after scoring twice, he gave the third spot kick to teammate Abdulrahman Ghareeb. But the Saudi Arabian international let his captain down with a penalty that bounced off the post in the 63rd minute.

In addition to the two goals, the Portuguese superstar also made his mark on the remaining two goals for Al Nassr, with an assist for Sadio Mane and a header that hit the post for defender Sultan Al Ghannam to score.

Ronaldo celebrates scoring against Al Shabab in the fourth round of the Saudi Pro League at Al-Awwal Stadium, Riyadh on the evening of August 29, 2023. Photo: ANFC

Ronaldo's performance continued to be highly appreciated, after he scored a hat-trick in the previous match and was rated 10 by Sofascore . This time he received a score of 9.1 in 86 minutes of play against Al Shabab, continuing to be the best player of the match.

The most notable player on Al Nassr's side was Argentine midfielder Ever Banega, but the only hot spot he brought was a straight red card in the 78th minute for a boot straight into Sultan Al Ghannam's knee. Al Nassr's squad value was five times that of Al Shabab, and the action at Al-Awwal showed that.

In the 12th minute, $65 million midfielder Otavio crossed the ball and hit the hand of a visiting player in the penalty area, giving Al Nassr a penalty. Ronaldo shot into the lower right corner, fooling Korean goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu to open the score. He celebrated with his familiar spinning jump, to the sound of "siuuu" echoing throughout the stands.

In the second penalty, Ronaldo himself was pushed from behind in the penalty area by midfielder Gustavo Cuellar. This time Kim did not dive first, but Ronaldo still kicked to the right corner and the goalkeeper did not have time to react. The Al Nassr captain was happy with his double, and danced to the music on the field. This was his ninth penalty, in 2023 alone.

Ronaldo scored twice from the penalty spot

Al Nassr's four goals against AL Shabab.

Al Nassr were awarded a third penalty in the 61st minute, after Otavio once again hit an opponent's hand in the penalty area. This time Ronaldo let Ghareeb take the shot, but the player hit the post and bounced out. He rushed in to kick the rebound into the net, but the referee had blown the whistle before, because the ball had not touched anyone, so Ghareeb was not allowed to receive it.

Ronaldo also assisted Mane in the 41st minute with a one-touch pass down the right side of the penalty area for the Senegal star to shoot into a tight angle to make it 3-0. In the 80th minute, Ghareeb returned the favor with a cross for the captain to head back into the far corner and hit the post, before Ghannam kicked the ball with his left foot into the near corner to seal a 4-0 victory for Al Nassr.

Mane raised the score to 3-0 for Al Nassr. Photo: ANFC

In addition to scoring all four goals, Ronaldo also had the ball in the net twice but it was ruled out for offside. There was a situation in the first half's injury time when he pushed the ball and then accelerated but ran out of breath. But then the 38-year-old superstar chased and successfully won the ball back.

With five goals, Ronaldo took the lead in the race for the 2023-2024 Saudi Pro League Golden Boot. In the next match, he and Al Nassr will visit the field of newcomer Al Hazm on the evening of September 2.

Hoang An

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