Ronaldo close to 1000th goal with 'hat-trick' against Al-Khaleej
Cristiano Ronaldo is close to his 1000th goal after scoring a hat-trick for Al-Nassr in a thrilling 5-3 victory over Al-Khaleej.
Translated by Qiyas from السياسة — Original source
Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo continued his pursuit of the historic milestone of scoring his 1,000th career goal after netting a hat-trick to lead Al-Nassr to a thrilling 5-3 victory over Al-Khaleej on Thursday, in Round 12 of the Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo’s tally now stands at 985 official goals for his clubs and the Portuguese national team, placing him just 15 goals away from reaching the thousand-goal mark, as he continues to bolster his professional scoring record.
The match, held at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh, saw early excitement as French forward Julian Domingues opened the scoring for Al-Khaleej in the 16th minute, before Brazilian striker Angel Gabriel equalized for Al-Nassr in the 24th minute.
Senegal international Sadio Mane added Al-Nassr’s second goal in the 38th minute, but Cameroon’s Antoine Issoumbou brought Al-Khaleej back into the contest by scoring an equalizer in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, ending the half at 2-2.
In the second half, Ronaldo stole the spotlight with a decisive hat-trick, opening the account in the 66th minute, adding his second in the 72nd, and completing the treble in the 81st, giving Al-Nassr a comfortable 5-2 lead.
Domingues reduced the deficit for Al-Khaleej from a penalty in the fourth minute of stoppage time, concluding the match with a 5-3 win for Al-Nassr.
With this result, Al-Nassr moved up to second place with 28 points, level with league leaders Al-Qadsiah, who defeated Al-Riyadh 6-0. Meanwhile, Al-Khaleej remained on 12 points in 10th place.
