SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Ronaldo marks his 1,200th game in style as Al-Nassr bounce back
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 1,200th professional match with a goal and an assist as he helped his Saudi League side Al-Nassr to get a 4-1 win over Al-Riyadh on Friday.
“Cristiano Ronaldo has now played in 1,200 professional matches,” the Saudi League posted on the X platform, as the former Real Madrid player moved closer to Peter Shilton who leads the list of male players with most official appearances.
The 38-year-old Ronaldo opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark when he tapped in a cross from Sadio Mane, who had had a goal disallowed in the first minute of the game.
The Portuguese strengthened his status as the league’s top scorer with his 16 goals from the season’s 16 matches and helped his team to bounce back following a 3-0 defeat to leaders Al-Hilal last Friday.
“Three more points!” Ronaldo posted on social media. “Thankful to all my team mates who helped me reach my 1,200th match. What a ride but we’re not done yet!”
Three minutes into first-half injury time, Ronaldo assisted on his countryman Otavio’s headed goal.
Al-Nassr’s Brazilian Talisca netted twice in the second half, with a consolation goal from Al-Riyadh’s Andre Gray coming in between.
Al-Nassr are second in the standings with 37 points, seven Former England goalkeeper Shilton is acknowledged as the record holder for the most competitive men’s professional games, though the total is disputed. Some statistics websites say the tally is 1,390 but Shilton himself, on his X feed, gives it as 1,387.
Reuters
Former Super Eagles’ coach, Jose Peseiro is on the line to coach Saudi Arabia Pro League first tier team, Al Riyadh.
Information from the oil rich country indicate that Peseiro who had previously coached the Saudi Arabia national team is one of the two being considered to replace Odair Hellmann at the Saudi club which placed 14th at the end of last season.
It is gathered that Peseiro has a competitor in Spanish cooach, Javier Pereira who is also lineup for the job.
Peseiro had previously managed Al Hilal in 2006 and later coached the Saudi national team during their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Al Nasr’s Cristiano Ronaldo capped his first full Saudi Pro League season in style as he broke the record for the most goals scored in one campaign on Monday.
The Portuguese 39-year-old scored a brace in his side’s 4-2 win over Al Ittihad on the final matchday to bring his league tally this season to 35 goals.
The previous record was held by former Al Nasr forward and Moroccan international Abderrazak Hamdallah, who scored 34 goals in 2018-19.
Ronaldo, who played for Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, joined Al Nasr in January 2023.
-Reuters
Undefeated Al-Hilal won a record-extending 19th Saudi Pro League title on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over Al-Hazem to reclaim the trophy from Al-Ittihad who won it last season.
Jorge Jesus’ side hold a 12-point advantage over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in second with three matches remaining.
Aleksandar Mitrovic gave Al-Hilal the lead from the penalty spot after 15 minutes but Faiz Selemani netted the equaliser for Al-Hazem in the 34th minute.
However, Jesus’s side took the lead again with an own goal from Ahmed Al-Juwaid in the 39th minute.
Mitrovic scored again in first-half stoppage time and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored three minutes later to make it 4-1.
Al-Hilal are chasing the treble having clinched the Saudi Super Cup title in April, and having reached the Saudi King’s Cup final where they will play Al-Nassr.
-Reuters
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