Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 960th official goal of his career as Al-Nassr beat Damac 2-1 in the Saudi Pro League on Wednesday night to close the gap on leaders Al-Hilal to just four points.
Abdulrahman Ghareeb opened the scoring early on in the game before Ronaldo doubled their advantage at the start of the second half. Damac did pull one back midway through the second half but Al-Nassr hung on for a vital win to reignite their title bid.
For Ronaldo, he is now 40 goals shy of 1,000 in his illustrious career. The Portugal captain is already the leading men’s international scorer with 143 goals from 225 games.
Al-Nassr survive scare to beat Damac
Al-Nassr needed less than five minutes to open the scoring against a Damac side struggling in the wrong half of the Saudi Pro League table. Kingsley Coman was the creator with some good work down the right before pulling the ball back for Ghareeb. The winger still had work to do but took a great touch to wrong-foot his defender and then calmly slotted home.
It looked like the start of a deluge but Al-Nassr were wasteful in front of goal and could not add to their tally in the first half. Joao Felix blasted a good chance over and then smashed another effort off the crossbar, while Al-Nassr were also denied a penalty after Abdelkader Bedrane appeared to handle the ball. Damac also caused the visitors a few problems of their own. Riyadh Sharahili had the ball in the back of the net but saw it ruled out for offside, while goalkeeper Bento made two good saves before the interval.
Ronaldo endured a frustrating opening 45 minutes but made amends at the start of the second half. Felix played his Portugal teammate through on goal to clip the ball past goalkeeper Kewin for goal number 960 of his career. Damac have struggled for goals all season but managed to pull one back on 68 minutes. A corner was swung in from the right and headed home by a completely unmarked Jamal Harkass at the near post.
The goal offered Damac hope of an unlikely comeback and made for a nervy finish for Al-Nassr. Ronaldo thought he’d made the game safe in the final 10 minutes when he found the back of the net again but saw it ruled out for another offside. Yet in the end two goals proved to be enough for the visitors who take home an important three points.
The MVP
Felix may have wasted two good chances to score for Al-Nassr but he was still the most dangerous player on the pitch. The Portugal star looked silky smooth whenever he was on the ball and delivered a brilliant trivela cross to Ronaldo which really should have resulted in a goal. Ronaldo’s header was saved, but the two did subsequently link up for Al-Nassr’s second goal which sealed the win, Felix sending Ronaldo through on goal with an inviting pass.
The big loser
Al-Nassr’s defense will not be happy with the fact they failed to keep a clean sheet against a Damac side that came into the game as the lowest scoring team in the Saudi Pro League so far ithis season. A corner in from right found Harkass with acres of space to nod past Bento in the Al-Nassr goal and halve the deficit. After being comfortable for so long, the goal sparked the game back into life and made what should have been a comfortable evening for Al-Nassr that bit more difficult.
Match rating (out of five): ⭐⭐⭐
