Cristiano Ronaldo helped Al Nassr to their first win of the Saudi Pro League season when he dispatched a fine free-kick in Tuesday’s 4-1 win over Al Feiha.
Ronaldo struck in first-half stoppage time for the 64th dead-ball goal of his storied career and his 899th overall.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner missed a glorious chance after halftime to reach his latest career landmark but it was a moment earlier in the contest that indicated how Al Nassr might best approach the challenge of unseating Al Hilal as Saudi champions.
In the fifth minute, Ronaldo played a cute pass to set up Anderson Talisca to open the scoring. It was only the second time in his Al Nassr career that Ronaldo has set up his Brazilian teammate to score.
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All Hilal claimed a dominant triumph in Saudi Arabia’s top division by an eventual 14-point margin last season. However, things might have been different if not for a thigh injury that ruled Talisca out of the final 12 games of the campaign.
In his final two matches before being struck down the 30-year-old scored five times. Al Nassr coach Luis Castro will dearly hope to have both men playing in tandem for the majority of the season, especially after seeing Talisca seal victory with a spectacular free-kick of his own in the dying minutes.
WHAT A FREE KICK FROM TALISCA 🤯 pic.twitter.com/V8oUqnad70
— Al Nassr Zone (@TheNassrZone) August 27, 2024
