SAUDI PRO LEAGUE
Ronaldo suffers another setback in Saudi title race
Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of clinching the Saudi Pro League at the first attempt suffered another setback when his Al-Nassr club were held to a 1-1 home draw by lowly Al-Khaleej in Riyadh on Monday.
The visitors, who are battling to stave off relegation, took a shock lead through Fabio Martins after four minutes at Al-Awwal Park but Alvaro Gonzalez soon equalised for Al-Nassr.
Portuguese striker Ronaldo thought he had given his team the lead in the 58th minute only for the referee to cancel the goal for offside.
League leaders Ittihad, meanwhile, thrashed Abha 4-0 to open up a five-point cushion over second-placed Al-Nassr with four games to play.
Ronaldo was surrounded by Al-Khaleej players looking to secure his shirt after the final whistle and angrily shoved away a member of the team’s staff when he attempted to take a selfie with the former Real Madrid striker.
-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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