Ronaldo on target as Al Nassr beat Al Fateh

Cristiano Ronaldo sealed a 3-1 win over Al Fateh at Al Nassr by scoring a late winner for his side, the 921st goal of his professional career. The Portuguese is 79 away from 1,000 official goals. His first goal came in the 88th minute of the match against Saudi Arabia's bottom side, when he beat Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Szappanos from a right-wing cross by Senegal's Sadio Mané.

The goal rounded off the win for Italian coach Stefano Pioli's side, their second in a row that moves them provisionally into third place in the competition at the expense of Michel Gonzalez's Al Qadsiah, who host leaders Al Hilal on Monday.

Al Nassr capitalised on the visitors' shortcomings, who are bottom of the table five points from safety, and took the lead on the brink of half-time in the 41st minute thanks to an own goal from Moroccan Marwane Saadane. On the hour mark they got their second, scored by Frenchman Mohamed Simakan from a pass by Brazilian Ângelo. Although Morocco's Mourad Batna scored for Al Fateh to close the gap, Cristiano Ronaldo, in the 87th minute, rounded off the home side's win when he headed home Sadio Mane's cross.

Cristiano Ronaldo added another in stoppage time, but it was disallowed for offside. The win put Al Nassr provisionally third, one point clear of fourth-placed Al Qadsiah and eight points behind Al Ittihad and Al Hilal, who share the lead.

 

January 26, 2025