It’s not Easter Sunday yet. But Cristiano Ronaldo decided to bring forward his return to the pitch after more than a month out with an injury. He went straight into the starting lineup and scored a crucial brace in the second half to seal Al Nassr’s victory over Al Najma (5-2), keeping his team at the top of the SPL and bringing his personal tally to 968 goals.
You had to go back to February 28 to find the last image of Cristiano on the field. It was during Al Nassr’s victory over Al Fayha, where, however, the Portuguese star had a difficult afternoon. He missed a penalty and, with 10 minutes left in the match, had to ask to be substituted.
Since then, he has been working tirelessly to return as soon as possible, and after he began training with the rest of the squad earlier this week, Jorge Jesus decided to slot him straight into the starting lineup for the match against bottom-of-the-table Al Najma. Joao Félix, however, was absent due to suspension. Neither were Iñigo Martínez or Coman… but Simakan, Brozovic, and Mané were there.
No one wanted to miss his return, and there didn’t seem to be a single empty seat at Al Awwal Park. That said, the truth is that Al Nassr struggled to get going, and it wasn’t until after the first fifteen minutes that they had their first reasonably clear chance-naturally, courtesy of Cristiano, who controlled the ball on the edge of the box and fired off a shot without hesitation.
Although he wasn’t quite on his game yet, he looked quite active. Meanwhile, little by little, Al Nassr picked up the pace and, inevitably, began creating more chances on the opponent’s goal. In the 29th minute, Cristiano had a first-time shot from the penalty spot blocked, and in the 34th minute, he fired wide from the left side of the box.
Al Najma managed to hold firm against the onslaught of an Al Nassr side that was throwing everything forward in an attempt to take control of the match before halftime. However, what no one in Riyadh could have anticipated was that, before the fourth official raised the board to signal stoppage time, Al Tulayhi would catch them off guard to open the scoring.
The situation looked precarious for Jorge Jesus’s men. However, they rallied to turn the game around before heading into the locker room tunnel. Al Hamdan was the one to equalize the score, and just seconds later, with a bit of luck, Sadio Mané scored the 2-1 goal to ease the tension.
Having completed the comeback, Al Nassr’s momentum plummeted. Al Najma capitalized on this, catching them off guard to tie the match right at the start of the second half. The play originated from a long goal kick finished by Felippe Cardoso.
Once again, it was Al Nassr’s turn to respond… and they did. Less than 10 minutes later, the referee pointed to the penalty spot after Al Hawsawi handled the ball inside the box following a free kick taken by Cristiano, who charged straight at the ball and made no mistake: a powerful, angled shot that curled just inside the post to level the score.
It didn’t end there, and with just over a quarter of an hour remaining, he sealed the match with a shot from the heart of the box off a pass from Boushal. He had to celebrate it later, as the goal had initially been disallowed. Cristiano “came back to life,” reaching 23 league goals to put him two behind Toney, and Al Nassr celebrates. Jorge Jesus didn’t push him to the limit either, sparing him the final minutes in which Mané scored the fifth goal.
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