It was a history-making day for Cristiano Ronaldo during Al-Nassr’s clash with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Pro League final matchday.
The six-goal thriller saw Al-Nassr edged out the 2022-23 Saudi Pro League champions with a 4-2 victory.
While the game was a dead rubber for Al-Nassr, having lost the title to A-Hilal, Cristiano Ronaldo had a lot to fight for.
In a not-so-stellar campaign for the Knights of Najd, Cristiano Ronaldo had maintained a sensational individual campaign, leading the Saudi Pro League topscorers’ chart.
Ahead of the Al-Ittihad clash, Ronaldo was just a goal behind Saudi Pro League all-time topscorer Abderazzak Hamdallah.
Hamdallah, a Moroccan forward, had set the record for most league goals in the Saudi elite division in a single season when he scored a record 34 goals in the 2018/19 campaign.
Ronaldo needed a goal to match Hamdallah’s record and one more to break it but it was the final game of the season.
If he had missed out, he would wait for the next campaign to make an attempt but it appeared the footballing sensation wasn’t ready to bow out.
In the stoppage time of the first half against Al-Ittihad, Ronaldo matched Abderazzak’s record, scoring for the home side. Nine minutes after the hour mark, he was on target again to cross the benchmark and help Al-Nassr run out with a 4-2 victory.
It was another big milestone for the Man United and Real Madrid. At 39, he etched his name into record books in Saudi Arabia football with most goals in a single season.
Reacting to his incredible feat, the iconic footballer took to his social media handle to boast, ”I don’t follow records. Records follow me.”
On his Instagram, he posted a video capturing all seasons he has emerged as a topscorer in all four leagues he has played in.
It was the sixth time Ronaldo has won domestic league Golden Boots throughout his career.
He won it at Manchester United in the 2007-08 season with 31 goals, Real Madrid in the 2010-11, 2013-14, and 2014-15 seasons with 40, 41, and 48 goals, respectively, and Juventus in the 2020-21 season with 29 goals.
