Al-Nassr lead the way for Ronaldo’s arrival

RIYADH: 2022 came to an end with plenty of Saudi Professional League action and here are five things we learned at Arab News.

Ronaldo comes to the league leaders

Al-Nassr won 1-0 at struggling Al-Khaleej to end 2022 as the league leaders, and sit a point above Al-Shabab who have played one game fewer.

The headlines did not focus too much on the fifth-minute decisive strike from Vincent Aboubaker, a fine diving header from one of the league’s top strikers, that won the game.

All the talk was of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. There is going to be plenty more of that in the coming days, weeks and months.

It could be that the Portuguese star, always fit and ready to go, plays his first club game outside Europe on Thursday at home to Al-Tai.

There is going to be a big crowd to welcome one of the best players in the history of the game.

It remains to be seen how the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star will fit into the side but there is no doubt that he is joining a team who have what it takes to lift the title.

Rivals in the race will be looking on with trepidation and wondering what a forward who scored 18 goals in the English Premier League last season can do in Saudi Arabia.

It is going to be quite a ride.

Sloppy Al-Hilal slip up

While winning the title last season, there were numerous occasions when Al-Hilal won games and points at the death, with their never-say-die attitude truly impressive.

However, in the 2-2 draw at Damac, the opposite happened.

It started so well. The champions pushed forward from the get-go and Odion Ighalo slotted home a deserved opener seven minutes before the break.

Luciano Vietto doubled the lead from the shortest of ranges and the points looked to be in the bag. Even