Al Raed 1-2 Al Nassr: Ronaldo strikes as visitors close gap to League leaders

Cristiano Ronaldo was among the goals as Al-Nassr claimed a hard-fought 2-1 win at Al-Raed to move within five points of the Saudi Pro League summit. 

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

5' Highlight from Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

9' Match Event for Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

16' Highlight from Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

27' Match Event for Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

29' Match Event for Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

34' Highlight from Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

35' GOAL! Al Raed 0-1 Al Nassr FC (Cristiano Ronaldo)

47' GOAL! Al Raed 0-2 Al Nassr FC (Nawaf Al-Boushal)

59' Highlight from Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

66' Match Event for Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

76' GOAL! Al Raed 1-2 Al Nassr FC (Amir Sayoud)

82' Highlight from Al Raed vs Al Nassr FC

Match Report

Ronaldo flicked Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-right corner in the 35th minute, putting Al-Nassr on top against opponents perched just outside the relegation zone.

The Portugal legend then turned provider for Nawaf Bu Washl to double the visitors' lead early in the second half, and they clung on for three points despite Amir Sayoud halving the arrears with 14 minutes to play.

Al-Nassr, who are reportedly close to signing Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran and have also shown interest in Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma, leapfrogged Al-Qadisiyah to go third.

They are five points behind Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad but have played one additional game, so could find themselves eight points adrift when those sides take to the field on Saturday.

Earlier on Thursday, an Ivan Toney penalty helped Al-Ahli – who are just three points behind Al-Nassr – beat Al-Orobah 2-0.

Toney is now up to seven goals for the campaign, with two of those coming from the spot. Ziyad Aljohani also scored for Al-Ahli, who have now won three straight games.

Data Debrief: Ronaldo leads the way

Ronaldo's 15th goal of the Saudi Pro League season pulled him two clear of former Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema at the top of the scoring charts.

Those strikes have come in 17 outings, and he has netted four times in his last three in the competition. However, matching his single-season competition record of 35, set in 2023-24, looks a tall order.

Ronaldo averaged 1.13 goals per game last campaign, but that figure is down to 0.88 in 2024-25. He arguably could have added to his tally on Thursday, too, attempting seven of his team's 17 shots.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner now has 921 career goals for club and country, as he continues to inch towards the 1,000-goal landmark.

Line-ups

Al Raed XI: Amir Sayoud, Abeid, Saleh Al-Amri, Hamad Al-Jayzani, Abdullah Al-Yousif, Yousri Bouzok, Meshary Sanyor, Zakaria Hawsawi, Mobarak Al-Rajeh, Salomon Tweh, Abdullah Hazazi

Subs: Nayef Hazazi, Mathias Normann, Raed Al-Ghamdi, Saleh Al-Ohaymid, Yahya Sunbul, Moses Turay, Nawaf Al-Sahli, Anas Al-Zahrani, Khalid Al-Subaie

Al Nassr FC XI: Ronaldo, Brozovic, Mane, Otávio, Sultan Al-Ghannam, Ali Lajami, Ali Al-Hassan, Mohamed Simakan, Bento, Nawaf Al-Boushal, Ângelo

Subs: Mohammed Al-Fatil, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim, Raghed Al-Najjar, Ayman Yahya, Mohammed Marran, Salem Al Najdi, Majed Qasheesh, Mubarak Al-Buainain