Ronaldo helps Al Nassr win big against Saudi League newcomers

Saudi Arabia 38-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored once and assisted twice, as Al Nassr beat Al Hazem 5-1 in the fifth round of the Saudi Pro League.

Goals scored: Ghareeb 33, Al Khaibari 45, Otavio 57, Ronaldo 68, Mane 78 - Badamosi 47

Ronaldo scored three or more goals in his third consecutive match, as his team won by a landslide. Against the bottom team, the Portuguese superstar set up his teammate to score twice, before raising the score to 4-1 in the 68th minute from a well-placed assist from Abdulrahman Ghareeb.

Ronaldo (left) celebrates scoring against Al Hazem. Photo: CristianoXtra — Ronaldo (left) celebrates scoring against Al Hazem at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on September 2, 2023. Photo: *SSC*

The Al Nassr captain continued his streak of good matches, with a relaxed mentality. In the 33rd minute, he passed the ball with his left foot to Ghareeb to face him and shoot diagonally to open the score. In the 57th minute, Marcelo Brozovic cleverly passed the ball to Ronaldo to face him, but the 38-year-old striker did not shoot but crossed for his compatriot Otavio to tap into the empty net. After Otavio's goal, Ronaldo ran to celebrate first, then turned to his teammates, sticking out his tongue and smiling brightly.

After creating for his teammates, Ronaldo finally got his reward in the 68th minute. Otavio passed the ball to Ghareeb who could have shot from about 10 meters away, but the midfielder passed it back to Ronaldo who fired it into the home net. CR7 scored for the third consecutive match, and he jumped and said his familiar "siuuu" and even danced with both hands as he thanked Ghareeb.

After Ronaldo, it was star Sadio Mane's turn to score when he curled the ball into the far corner from a distance of more than 10 meters from Ghareeb's pass. The Senegal international rose to second in the tournament's scoring list, behind only Ronaldo himself.

Ronaldo helps Al Nassr win big against Saudi League newcomers — Ronaldo's goal against Al Hazem.

Al Nassr has a total squad value of $220 million, 12 times higher than the home team Al Hazem. According to the Opta Power index, Al Hazem is even rated lower than three Southeast Asian clubs, namely Buriram United, Johor Darul Tazim and Bangkok United. The home team also has no players who have made a name for themselves in Europe's top five leagues, not to mention they have just been promoted and are currently at the bottom of the Saudi League.

Al Hazem Stadium has a maximum capacity of 8,000 spectators, so they used King Abdullah Sports City Stadium for the match to welcome Ronaldo and his teammates. This stadium has more than 62,000 seats, with the two main stands almost completely filled. However, the two stands behind the goal have a low occupancy rate.

The gap between the two teams was evident, but Al Nassr were also on fire, with some superb work leading to goals from Otavio and Mane. Not only did they win their third game in a row, but they also created a margin of four or more goals in the process. Despite that, Luís Castro’s side are currently sixth, four points behind leaders Al Hilal.

Al Nassr will play another match that is considered easy, against Al Raed on September 16. After that, they will play Iranian club Persepolis in the AFC Champions League, and Al Ahli in the Saudi League.

Hoang An

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