http://www.newsportng.com.ng Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo has lifted his first piece of silverware in Saudi Arabia after scoring twice as Al-Nassr came from behind to beat Al-Hilal in Saturday’s Arab Club Champions Cup final.
Ronaldo scored brace at 74th and 98th minutes after Al-Nasar player, A.A Amri was sent off at the 71 minutes
Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozović and Alex Telles also featured for Al-Nassr, with Kalidou Koulibaly, Rúben Neves, Sergej Milinković-Savić and Malcom all lining up for Al-Hilal.
Things weren’t going to plan for Ronaldo and co when Michael gave Al-Hilal an early lead in the second half, before the situation went from bad to worse for Al-Nassr when they went down to 10 men with 20 minutes remaining.
However, they weren’t about to go out without a fight, with Ronaldo popping up in the box to equalise with a poacher’s goal.
With the score level at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the final went to extra-time.
And remarkably, it was 10-man Al-Nassr who then went in front, and Ronaldo was again the scorer as he headed home after Seko Fofana’s effort had hit the bar.
However, the 38-year-old was unable to complete his hat-trick after he was forced off with an injury later in extra-time.
But Al-Nassr held on without their captain to claim the trophy.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United Star, Cristiano Ronaldo also won top scorer award for the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup.
Ronaldo joins Saudi Arabia’s side, Al-Nasar at the middle of last season from Manchester United, has improved the league recently, leading to many valuable players now signing for different clubs over there.
The Portuguese all time scorer who also doubles as the highest goal scorer in history of football, with both clubs and international competition now has a total of 844 goals against his Argentine rival, Lionel Messi, who has 814 and Pele with 672 goals.
