Ronaldo's 50th goal for Al Nassr clinches team 2nd place in Saudi Pro League

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Al Nassrs Cristiano Ronaldo in action with Al Ahli s Saad Yaslam Balobaid during Saudi Pro League match against Al Ahli at King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 15, 2024. — Reuters
Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo in action with Al Ahli 's Saad Yaslam Balobaid during Saudi Pro League match against Al Ahli at King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 15, 2024. — Reuters

Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo, in a face-off with the star-studded Al Ahli on Friday, scored his 50th goal for his team, ending their four-match winless run with 1-0 on the score-sheet, Goal reported.

Ronaldo’s historic goal that cemented Al Nassr the second place in the Saudi Pro League, also known as Roshn Saudi League (RSL), could have been made earlier in the 42nd minute of the match when the Ballon d’Or winner scored from an acute angle.

However, the video assistant referee (VAR) intervened and deemed him to be offside by a whisker during the build-up.

Friday’s match witnessed abundant star power from Europe, including former Liverpool star Roberto Firmino, Frank Kessie and Riyadh Mahrez competing from Al Ahli against Al Nassr led by their Portuguese talisman.

Both teams continued to hold their fire, adopting a cautious-first approach in the first half. However, they were fired up in the second half with Ronaldo scoring his 50th goal for his team in the final 10 minutes.

Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 50th goal for his team during Saudi Pro League match against Al Ahli at King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 15, 2024. — X/@CristianoXtra_

Ronaldo’s magic touch in front of the goal helped his team to reduce the deficit to nine points with leaders Al Hilal on top, who have a match in hand.

He congratulated his team in an Instagram post for ending a recent winless run.

"Back to winning ways," he captioned a picture of himself celebrating with his team along with a flexing arm emoji. "Let's go team!!"

The 39-year-old will return to Lisbon to join his Portugal teammates for international fixtures, including friendlies against Sweden and Slovenia on March 21 and 26, respectively, where he aims to increase his international goal tally.

After fulfilling his national team commitments, Ronaldo will return to Riyadh to face Al Tai on March 30.