Last Updated: February 04, 2023, 08:05 IST
Cristiano Ronaldo for Al Nassr (Twitter)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Al Nassr with a last-gasp penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw at Al Fateh in a thrilling Saudi Pro League clash
Cristiano Ronaldo got off the mark for his new Saudi paymasters Al Nassr on Friday with a stoppage-time penalty that rescued a 2-2 away draw against Al Fateh.
The Portuguese, who turns 38 on Sunday, buried the spot-kick in the 93rd minute for a point that left the Riyadh club joint top of the Saudi Pro League with a game in hand over Al Shabab.
Ronaldo broke his duck in his third appearance, after he fired blanks in the January 22 league win over Ettifaq and in this week’s Super Cup loss to Al Ittihad.
“Happy to have scored my first goal in the Saudi league and great effort by whole team to achieve an important draw in a very difficult match!” Ronaldo posted on social media after the game.
Ronaldo had seemingly let Anderson Talisca take the penalty as he stepped away from the spot kick but moments before execution, the Portuguese stepped up to slot home himself. earlier in the game, Ronaldo had missed an open goal and looked visibly frustrated with himself for not being able to put away a relatively simple chance.
At full-time, Ronaldo was a happy man to have broken his duck in Saudi Arabia.
Days before his Al Nassr debut, he scored twice for a Saudi composite team in an entertaining 5-4 loss to a Paris Saint-Germain side featuring his great rival Lionel Messi.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who holds the all-time records for Champions League and international goals, will bank more than 400 million euros for his surprise move to Saudi, according to sources close to Al Nassr.
The giant sum includes 200 million euros for promoting Saudi Arabia’s expected joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, the sources told AFP.
Ronaldo has become a figurehead for the conservative kingdom’s push to improve its reputation through sports — a process that has drawn accusations of “sportswashing”, or trying to sanitise its human rights record.
Al Nassr now top the standings after 15 games, level on 34 points with second-placed Al Shabab but with a match in hand. They next travel to Al Wedha on Thursday.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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