Cristiano Ronaldo thrives in new-look Al Nassr as focus sharpens on Saudi Pro League title

Having not long collected another Saudi Pro League player of the month award, Cristiano Ronaldo racked up one more milestone to go with it.

The Al Nassr captain swept home his side’s fourth in the 5-1 victory at Al Hazem on Saturday, the goal not so much majorly impacting the match as embroidering it.

Yet, for Ronaldo, it signified a fresh mark hit. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner struck the 850th goal of an already prodigious professional career, this final-phase Ronaldo, now 38, showing little sign of slowing down.

“[Eight-hundred and 50] career goals and still counting!” read the last line of his post-match post on social media, Ronaldo never one to miss a personal beat.

To be fair, he had already paid homage to his resurgent team.

“Another great performance! We keep improving,” the same message began.

Nassr seem to be doing just that. After a stuttering start to the 2023/24 Saudi Pro League (SPL) season, last year’s runners-up have rebounded in spectacular fashion. Saturday’s win made it three on the bounce, those opening twin defeats swiftly consigned to memory. The trio of victories have brought 14 goals, with only one conceded.

Ronaldo, as is his MO, has been integral to the turnaround. The Portuguese forward, who missed through injury the league opener at Al Ettifaq, has six goals in those three games, vaulting to the top of the division’s scoring charts. What’s more, he sits at the summit for assists, too, alongside ever-improving teammate Abdulrahman Ghareeb, on four.

It speaks to Ronaldo’s all-round contribution thus far. On Saturday, he surged forward to play in Ghareeb to break the deadlock; for Nassr’s third, he ran onto a Marcelo Brozovic pass and squared to Otavio for his compatriot to score the simplest