Cristiano Ronaldo inched closer to his 1000-goal mark, after the Portugal star footballer netted a hattrick within 15 minutes to lead Al Nassr to a 5-3 victory over Al-Kholood in the Saudi Pro League on Thursday.
Currently serving a national team suspension, Ronaldo was in top form at the Alawwal Park in Riyadh to take his career tally to 985 goals.
Julien Domingues opened the scoring with a 16th minute strike for Al-Kholood, before Angelo Gabriel equalised for Al Nassr on 24 minutes. Former Liverpool star Sadio Mane gave Al Nassr the lead on 36 minutes before Antoin Essomba made it 2-2 for Al-Kholood at half-time.
Then came the Ronaldo magic. With the scores level, Ronaldo went on beast mode with two close range strikes and a header. The veteran striker netted in 66th, 72md ad 81st minutes to hand Al Nassr a 5-2 lead. Although Domingues scored his second, but it was too late for Al-Kholood.
In the process, Ronaldo’s 67th career hattrick helped Al Nassr stay in second place in the Saudi Pro League points table with 28 points. Table toppers Al Qadsiah are also on 28 points but take the no.1 spot due to a better goal difference of 20 as compared of Al Nassr’s 17.
How far is Lionel Messi from Cristiano Ronaldo?
Unlike their huge career-goal difference, former Argentina captain Lionel Messi isn’t too far from his long-standing rival Ronaldo as far as career hattricks are concerned. Messi currently has 62 career hattricks across his legendary stints with Barcelona, Inter Miami, and Argentina.
According to www.messivsronaldo.app, Ronaldo has scored 57 hattricks as compared to Messi’s 51 at the club level. In national colours Messi piped Ronaldo 11-10. Messi has scored three or more goals in a game on nine occasions, four goals in a match seven times, and five goals in a game twice.
For Ronaldo, the 41-year-old has scored more than three goals in a game in 11 seperate matches. He also scored four goals in a match nine times and five goals in a game twice. For the unknown, Messi stands at 936 career goals, with his last two coming for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the new B.O.A.T.
Earlier, Ronaldo was been crowned the inaugural winner of the B.O.A.T. (Ballon d’Or of All Time) award following massive voting from fans worldwide, with his 2008 campaign with Manchester United being recognised as the best-ever individual year in the history.
France Football introduced a unique award, adding more fire to the debates of footballing greatness. The B.O.A.T. award was introduced to settle which Ballon d’Or season stands above the rest. Ronaldo edged past Messi, his long-time rival, to secure the award.
The voters seemed to prefer Ronaldo’s first-ever Ballon d’Or title win over Messi’s 91-goal season in 2012, a record which still stands to this day.