Ronaldo scores first Al Nassr goal to rescue a point

By Sports Desk February 03, 2023

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Al Nassr to salvage a 2-2 draw against Al Fateh on Friday.

The Portugal captain, who moved to Saudi Arabia on a free transfer after his Manchester United contract was cancelled by mutual consent, opened his account with a late penalty at Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Sports City Stadium.

Saudi Pro League leaders Al Nassr twice came from behind to secure a point on the road.

Ronaldo got up and running in his third game for his new club to deny sixth-placed Al Fateh.

The 37-year-old forward calmly dispatched his spot-kick in the 92nd minute before his team-mate Talisca, who scored Al Nassr's first goal to cancel out Cristian Tello's opener, was sent off in a dramatic finale.

Ronaldo had scored twice for Riyadh All-Stars in a 5-4 friendly draw against a Paris Saint-Germain side that included Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe last month.

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    Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time as Al-Hilal denied Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr victory in a 1-1 draw.

    Mitrovic netted his 27th Saudi Pro League goal of the campaign after Sadio Mane was harshly judged to have fouled Saud Abdulhamid in the area.

    Mane stuck out an arm to shield the ball, catching his opponent in the throat, though the contact appeared to have been outside of the box.

    Mitrovic made no mistake to keep Al-Hilal's unbeaten campaign going.

    The Serbian's spot-kick cancelled out Otavio's first-minute opener, with Ronaldo having set up his compatriot.

    Champions Al-Hilal remain 12 points clear of Al-Nassr at the summit of the Pro League standings.

    Data Debrief: Ronaldo the provider

    Ronaldo leads the scoring charts in Saudi Arabia this season, though he had to settle for an assist on Friday.

    That came from the only chance he created, with the 39-year-old limited to 25 touches, though he did have four shots.

  • Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on

    Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.

    Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.

    Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.

    Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.

    Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.

    Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.

    Data Debrief: Kante the creator?

    On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.

    On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.

     

  • Ronaldo motivated to keep playing at top level Ronaldo motivated to keep playing at top level

    Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of stopping as he says he is still motivated to compete with the "young lions" coming through in the game.

    Ronaldo is reportedly considering signing a contract extension to keep him at Al-Nassr until June 2026, taking him past his 41st birthday.

    The Portugal international has scored 42 goals in 41 appearances for the Saudi Pro League club this season, and he insists he is still motivated to keep going.

    Speaking on the Whoop podcast, he said: "I feel proud to have this age and still compete at the highest level. It's great, and it gives me motivation to carry on.

    "If you look at my career for the last 20 years, my level is high. If you are top for 20 years, it's unbelievable.

    "I do that, and I continue to do that. For me, it's a big achievement."

    Ronaldo has scored an incredible 891 goals in his career and is the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football with 128 goals.

    "My biggest motivation is to carry on," he added. "It's not easy to be at this level.

    "To still push, to still motivate, to carry on, to score goals, to be in good shape, to compete with the young lions that are coming and that when they play against me, they want to show me that they are stronger and faster than me.

    "You have to prepare very well, not just physically but mentally, too. This is the challenge.

    "Talent without work is nothing and work without talent is nothing. They have to work together at the same time. I have both. I can't say that I have more of one than the other.

    "Small details will make the difference. Consistency is the most difficult thing.

    "Are you willing to do that? That's the main point, because everyone wants to be Cristiano, but doing it is difficult. Discipline is the most difficult thing."

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