SAUDI ARABIA 39-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals to help Al Nassr crush the penultimate team Al Tai 5-1 in round 25 of the Saudi Pro League.

For the first time since August 2023, Ronaldo has scored a hat-trick. Captain Al Nassr raised the all-time scoring record to 882 goals in 1,214 matches, getting closer to the 900 goal mark. His three goals in this match were all scored from a one-touch finish, when the home team was leading and outplaying everyone.

Ronaldo celebrates the fourth goal for Al Nassr against Al Tai. Photo: ANFC

In the 64th minute, Al Nassr took a quick corner kick on the right, letting Mane pass in for Ronaldo to shoot one-touch towards the near corner from about 10 meters away, leaving the away team’s goalkeeper unable to block in time to block. Just three minutes later, from a shaky situation, the 39-year-old striker quickly hit the ground towards the near corner, this time from a distance of less than 5 meters. At the second goal, Ronaldo danced in a familiar fashion, causing the audience to simultaneously chant “siu”.

Ronaldo also missed two good opportunities, but in the end he scored a hat-trick. In the 87th minute, from midfielder Abdulmajeed Al Sulayhim’s hanging ball on the right, Ronaldo jumped high and headed the second post to the far corner, sealing a 5-1 victory for Al Nassr.

This is the 64th hat-trick of Ronaldo’s career, marking the 15th consecutive year he has scored at least one hat-trick. The Portuguese superstar was scored 9.5 points by Sofascored , the highest in the match, because he also created five opportunities for his teammates to finish.

Al Tai is ranked 1,127th in the world, according to the Opta strength index , while Al Nassr is ranked 93rd. The difference between the two teams is even more obvious when the away team has to receive a red card and play without players from the 36th minute, when Striker Virgil Misidjan received yellow cards twice. Since then, Al Nassr has dominated to maintain three points and maintain a small hope of chasing top team Al Hilal.

In the next match, Ronaldo and his teammates will be away at Abha, a team that is rated lower than Al Tai, on the evening of April 2.