Cristiano Ronaldo continues to age like fine wine as he has become the player with the most goals and assists in the Saudi Pro League this campaign.
Ronaldo scored a brace in Al Nassr’s smashing victory over Al Shabab to extend his goal tally to 5 goals for the 2023/24 season.
The 38-year-old scored the opener for the Knight of Najd, before increasing his goals bank in the 38th minute of proceedings.
Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Pro League
Cristiano Ronaldo could have earned the match ball in the game, but his goal in the 18th and 65th minute of the encounter was chalked off following a VAR review.
Sadio Mane scored the third for Al Nassr in the 40th minute, while winger Abdulrahman Ghareeb missed a penalty in the 63rd minute.
Luis Castro’s side moved to 6th place on the Saudi Pro League table, and they have bounced back from their poor start to the season.
Meanwhile, Sultan Al Ghanam put the icing on the cake for Al Nassr, as they recorded another thumping victory in back-to-back games.
Cristiano Ronaldo recently led the club to the Arab Club Champions Cup, and he has his sights on more success in the 2023/24 season.
From conquering European football on countless occasions and stamping his name in football royalty, Ronaldo is fixated on conquering the Asian continent.
He will lead Al Nassr in the Asian Champions League for the 2023/24 season, as they aim to achieve success in the competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo spurred by competition
Despite the large influx of high-profile players into the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo is undeterred and unrelenting in breaking records.
Players like Karim Benzema, Neymar, Roberto Firmino, N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Fabinho to name a few, all moved to the Saudi Pro League this summer.
One astonishing incident that occurred in the encounter, which showed Cristiano Ronaldo’s hearty nature happened in the 63rd minute of proceedings.
Ronaldo had the opportunity to score back-to-back hat tricks and his 850th career goal via the penalty box.
However, despite being the designated spot-kick taker, he gave the ball to Sultan Al Ghanam, who is yet to score his first goal of the season.
Unfortunately, Al Ghanam couldn’t convert the glorious opportunity handed to him by the footballing icon.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane are still waxing stronger, as both players also got in on the act against Al Shabab.
Ronaldo scored a brace, which as earlier revealed took his goal tally for the season to 6 goals, while Sadio Mane scored 1 goal, and that pushed his goal tally to 3 goals so far this season.
Aymeric Laporte has been impressive at Al Nassr
Meanwhile, Aymeric Laporte, who recently joined the Knights of Najd from Manchester City, once again put in a great shift in Riyadh, as Al Nassr haven’t conceded a goal since his arrival.
Laporte joined Luis Castro’s side on August 24, 2023, for a fee of €30 million, and he penned a three-year deal with the Saudi Arabian giants.
Al Nassr are a side stacked with options across the team, and they are a massive support cast to Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Riyadh-based club finished 2nd in the Saudi Pro League last term, despite being at the summit of the league for a lengthy period.
They will be aiming to avoid any slip-ups this season, as they hope to win the Saudi Arabian top-flight title.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s brace against Al Shabab has once against elongated his goal tally with Al Nassr.
The former Manchester United forward has now scored 23 goals and provided 4 assists in 28 appearances for the Saudi Pro League side.
With 5 goals and 2 assists in the 2023/24 league season, Ronaldo sits firmly at the top of the charts.
Al Nassr visit the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium on Saturday, September 2, 2023, to play Al Hazem in what would be their next league affair.
