During the 18th round of the Saudi Pro League, Al Nassr defeated Al Ittihad by a score of 5-2. The double penalty that Al Nassr took advantage of allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to hit the milestone of 53 goals for the year.

During the evening of December 26, Ronaldo expressed his happiness after scoring a goal for Al Nassr in their match against Al Ittihad. An image by Al Nassr

During the evening of December 26, Ronaldo expressed his happiness after scoring a goal for Al Nassr in their match against Al Ittihad. An image by Al Nassr

Ronaldo has overtaken the goals scored by Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe, who each had a total of 52 goals throughout their careers. Given that both Kane and Mbappe stopped playing in 2023, it is highly probable that the Portuguese striker would emerge victorious in the competition for the title of best scorer of the year. Erling Haaland, who has scored fifty goals, still has the potential to catch up to Ronaldo. However, the Norwegian striker is now sidelined with an injury and may not have fully recovered in time to play in either of Manchester City’s two upcoming matches, which are scheduled to take place on December 28 against Everton and December 30 against Sheffield United.

Al Nassr is a visitor team competing in the Saudi Pro League, which is the defending champion. Their objective is to gain three points and bring the margin between themselves and the leader, Al Hilal, to three points. It is necessary for Ronaldo’s team to end their winless skid against Al Ittihad, which has lasted for five years and eleven matches. Even though they were forced to play away from home, Al Nassr did not have a great deal of difficulty despite the fact that they were competing against an adversary who was in a state of crisis.

In the eleventh minute, Ronaldo kicked the ball into the goal of Al Ittihad, but the goal was counted as offside since it was not acknowledged. Not much longer after that, the Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamdallah scored a goal for the home team by making a good play inside the penalty area. On the other hand, Karim Benzema committed a foul inside the penalty area, which set the conditions for Al Nassr to equalize the score. When Ronaldo took the penalty kick, he shot to the right, which fooled Al-Maiouf, who was the goalkeeper. The striker, who was 38 years old at the time, went to the corner post after scoring and performed the “Siu” celebration to celebrate his goal. recognizable.

After unleashing an acceleration that was reminiscent of his best, Ronaldo failed to capitalize on the opportunity to put Al Nassr ahead of the game by hitting the post. On the other hand, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the side that was playing away. Al Nassr was able to take a 2-1 lead into halftime thanks to a ball from Anderson Talisca and a nice finish when they were inside the penalty area.

At the beginning of the second half, Hamdallah once again played the role of a hero when his header was successful in beating the goalie Alaqidi, so placing the match in a state of equilibrium. A number of opportunities were lost as a result of this goal, including two shots that were unsuccessfully taken by Benzema. This goal opened up exhilarating minutes of suspense.

In the sixty-fifth minute, the game took a decisive turn. Al Nassr was awarded a penalty once more by the referee, and Fabinho, a former midfielder for Liverpool, was shown a second yellow card for a foul that he committed on Otavio. During this particular instance, Al-Maiouf made an accurate prediction regarding Ronaldo’s shooting to the right, but the goalkeeper for Al Ittihad was unable to successfully block the shot.

During the remaining time, Al Nassr quickly scored two more goals thanks to the advantage they had over their opponents. After Talisca had completed a clearing pass, Sadio Mane had the opportunity to cushion the ball into an empty net. During a counterattack situation that was very similar to the one that occurred in the 82nd minute, the Senegalese striker hit a double. Al Ittihad suffered injuries to players on the field, which caused them to lose concentration on their defense, which is the same thread that runs through both of these goals.

The fact that Al Nassr still has a trip away to Al Taawoun Stadium, which is scheduled to take place before the end of 2023, indicates that Ronaldo still has the opportunity to enhance his performance. They have now closed the deficit with the leading team, Al Hilal, to seven points as a result of this victory. Al Ittihad, on the other hand, is currently ranked sixth with 28 points, having fallen 15 points behind Al Nassr.