Cristiano Ronaldo hails 'special night' after another Al Nassr hat-trick

Cristiano Ronaldo described his latest outing for Al Nassr as a "special night" as a first-half hat-trick against Damac kept the Riyadh club top of the Saudi Pro League.

The Portuguese striker opened the scoring on 18 minutes with a well-struck penalty into the top left corner before doubling Nassr's advantage with a composed finish from the edge of the area five minutes later.

He completed his treble – the 62nd of his career – on the stroke of half time by applying the finishing touch to Abdulrahman Ghareeb's cutback.

"Special night. Well done guys!" Ronaldo said in a Twitter post.

The win keeps Nassr two points clear of Al Ittihad at the top of the table on 43 points from 18 games.

Ronaldo has now scored eight goals in five appearances since joining Nassr in December on a two-and-a-half year contract worth a reported $200 million a year.

The former Real Madrid and Juventus star scored four goals against Al Wehda on February 9 having opened his account the previous week with a stoppage-time penalty against Al Fateh.

The 38-year-old, the most prolific marksman in men's international and club football, has now scored 506 goals in league football across Portugal, England, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia.

He joined the Saudi side as a free agent having had his contract terminated at Manchester United the previous month.