Portugal and Al Nassr FC superstar Cristiano Ronaldo started off the Saudi Pro League 2024 season in style, scoring his record 50th goal in the league against Al Raed in the season opener on Thursday (August 22) night. Ronaldo could have sealed the win with 15 minutes remaining in the game, when he found the back of the net for the second time but after a long check by the referee through VAR, the Portuguese superstar was deemed to be off-side.
That meant that Al Nassr’s SPL 2024 ended in a 1-1 draw although Ronaldo had put his side ahead with a 34th minute strike. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who set a Saudi Pro league record last season with 35 goals, grabbed his first goal of the new season with a powerful close-range header in the 34th minute. The goal was Ronaldo’s 50th in 48 games in the Saudi Pro League.
39 years old Cristiano Ronaldo’s leap is insane
— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) August 22, 2024
Amazingly, Ronaldo is now just eight goals shy of scoring his 900th career goal. But Al Raed, who finished 12th last season, levelled the score through Mohammed Fouzair four minutes into the second half.
Adding to the frustration for Ronaldo and his team, Al Nassr were denied a penalty for handball deep into second-half stoppage time, despite the referee reviewing the incident on the pitch-side monitor. Ronaldo is still seeking his first major trophy since joining Al Nassr following his exit from Manchester United in December 2022.
Ronaldo’s side finished runners-up to Al Hilal in both the Saudi Pro League and Saudi King’s Cup last season, Al Nassr were again beaten by the Riyadh side in the Saudi Super Cup on Saturday.
The 39-year-old scored his 25th goal of the calendar year against Al-Raed and the Portuguese is now just eight short of reaching 900 career goals for both club and country.
Ronaldo displayed that he might turn 40 next February but he still has the leap and the power in his neck muscles to score incredible headers. He sneaked ahead of his marker and fired in a bullet header to show that he still had it in him.
