Cristiano Ronaldo starred for Al-Nassr as the Knight of Najd rekindled their silverware hopes this season with a semi-final victory over Al Khaleej in Saudi King’s Cup.
In a lopsided cracker that saw Al-Nassr dominate proceedings from the start, Ronaldo shone through again with a showstopping performance to fire the 2022/23 Saudi League runners-up to the final of the competition.
The Manchester United and Real Madrid legend scored a brace as Al-Nassr breezed to a 3-1 victory.
Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 17th minute after he intercepted a back pass and chipped a left-foot volley over Al-Khaleej goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
In the 37th minute, former Bayern Munich and Liverpool forward, Sadio Mane, was on target for the Saudi giants. Portuguese attacking midfielder Otavio forced the opponents to concede a penalty after his pass was blocked with a hand by an Al Khaleej player in the box.
The referee awarded a penalty and Mane stepped up and converted it with no mistake. The two goals were enough to send Al-Nassr into the break with a commanding lead.
In the second half, Al-Khaleej stepped up their game but struggled to handle menacing attacks led by Al-Nassr’s star-studded frontline.
Three minutes before the hour mark, Al-Nassr struck again for their third goal to seal the win with Cristiano Ronaldo on target again for his brace.
It was a gameover for the opponents at this moment. In the 82nd minute, Al Haydar scored a lifeline goal to reduce the score margin but it was more of a consolation strike as Al Nassr held on to secure victory and book a place in the final.
In the other semi-final, Saudi league leaders Al-Hilal knocked out Al-Ittihad with a 2-1 victory. They will now face Al Nassr in a rollercoaster King’s Cup final on May 31.
