Cristiano Ronaldo shines as Al-Nassr secures first season win with hat-trick and assist for Sadio Mané

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the sixty-third hat trick of his career to help Al-Nassr to their first league win.

Cristiano Ronaldo showed up in style to give Al-Nassr their first league win of the season, scoring a hat-trick and assisting Sadio Mané in Al Fateh clash, Soccernet.ng reports.

Just two weeks after helping his team return to the Asian Champions League last week, the Portuguese forward turned up the heat to help the Saudi club win the Asian Cup championship.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner helped Sadio Mané, a former Liverpool star, score the game’s first goal. By flicking a through ball into Mané’s path, the 38-year-old demonstrated that he still possesses the technical skill and flair that mesmerised fans around the world. Mané wasted no time in putting the ball in the back of the net.

After Sultan Al-Ghanam crossed the ball from the edge of the box, the ex-Real Madrid forward scored in the 38th minute, giving his team a 2-0 lead. With this goal, he has now scored 136 goals off of headers, which is a record in football.

Ronaldo’s second goal would come in the fifty-fifth minute after Al-Nassr’s new acquisition Marcelo Brozovic set up Abdulrahman Ghareeb, who had a clear shot at goal but chose to set up Ronaldo instead as Al-Nassr went wild.

After Nawaf Al-Boushail squared the ball to the far post in the final seconds of the game, Ronaldo would complete his hat trick, marking the 63rd hat trick of his career.

In just under a year since he joined the club, the five-time Champions League champion has scored twenty goals in twenty-seven appearances for Al-Nassr, moving up the record books to become the ninth-highest goal scorer for the Saudi club.

Speaking about his performance, Ronaldo revealed how thrilled he was. He said, “I thank Saudi Arabia for embracing me. I am very happy here.” 

When Al-Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo play Odion Ighalo’s former team, Al-Shabab, in their upcoming league match, they will be hoping to maintain their recent success.