Cristiano Ronaldo Leads Al Nassr to Victory Over Al Taawoun

Cristiano Ronaldo delivered again on Friday night, striking the winner as Al Nassr edged Al Taawoun 2-1 to preserve their perfect start to the Saudi Pro League season.

Four games, four wins, and their 41-year-old talisman still deciding matches.

Al Nassr forced to rally again

Ange Postecoglou’s side came into the game on a high after their wild 3-2 comeback against Al Ettifaq on Tuesday, when they overturned a 2-0 deficit despite going down to 10 men. Goalkeeper Bento saw red that night, Al Nassr trailed by two at the break, and Postecoglou made the bold call to sacrifice Ronaldo before his team rattled in three goals in the final 16 minutes.

This time, Ronaldo stayed on for the full 90. The drama stayed, too.

Al Taawoun struck first. In the 11th minute, Mohammed Bassam Al Hurayji punished slack defending to put the visitors in front, silencing the home crowd and forcing Al Nassr into familiar territory: chasing the game.

The response took time. Pressure built. Chances came and went. Only deep into first-half stoppage time did the breakthrough arrive, Samú Costa stepping up in the fifth added minute to haul Al Nassr level and reset the contest right on the whistle.

Ronaldo’s touch, Ronaldo’s moment

Level at the break, Al Nassr came out sharper. The winner arrived just five minutes into the second half and carried the fingerprints of three of their biggest names.

Working down the left, João Félix burst into the Al Taawoun area, driving at defenders and cutting the ball back into a crowded box. The pass rolled to the edge of the area, where Mohamed Simakan met it cleanly and drilled a low effort toward the bottom corner.

Then Ronaldo intervened.

Stationed six yards out, the Portugal captain flicked the ball on its way, diverting it past the goalkeeper in the 50th minute for what is recorded as the 978th goal of his career. As he spun away in trademark celebration, Simakan could only stand in disbelief, replays showing his original strike was arrowing toward goal before Ronaldo’s touch turned it into the winner.

For Al Nassr, it was enough. They managed the closing stages, protected their lead, and saw out a fourth straight victory that keeps them sitting top of the table.

Ronaldo remains the headline act. The question now is how long he can keep writing it this way.