Ronaldo, Sadio Mane score brace as Al-Nassr defeats Al-Najma 5-2
In a comeback match, Cristiano Ronaldo led from the front, helping Al-Nassr defeat Al-Najma 5-2 in the Saudi Pro League 27th round Friday April 03, 2026
Saudi Pro League: In a comeback match, Cristiano Ronaldo led from the front, helping Al-Nassr defeat Al-Najma 5-2 in the Saudi Pro League 27th round Friday April 03, 2026.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who was off the field – first due to his protests and later because of injuries, hit the ball past the goal keeper twice, so did his teammate Sadio Mane playing against the visitors on the Al- Nassr FC home ground.
Interestingly, Al Najma vs Al Nassr played at Al Awwal Park in Riyadh Friday was evenly poised till the last minutes of the Half Time. In fact, Al Najma was at advantage when Rakan Rajeh Altulayhi gave his team lead just few minutes before the Half Time.
Abdullah Al Hamdan scored the equalizer in the added time before the Half Time, and Sadio Mane struck, barely one minute later, with scoreboard reading 2-1 for Al Nassr at Half Time.
As the game resumed, Felippe Cardoso took the score to 2-2 in the 47th minute of the match, giving Al-Nassr a tough challenge.
It was then that Al-Nassr Captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first comeback goal with the help of a penalty in 56th minute. Ronaldo scored again in 73rd minute with Sadio Mane completing brace in added time of the Second Half, barely few minutes before the match came to end.
Al-Nassr leads SPL Standings
With the victory against Al-Najmah, Al-Nassr FC further consolidated its position in the Saudi Pro League standings table with a resounding 70 points.
Al-Nassr’s win over Al-Najma Friday was also the team’s 13th consecutive victory since January 17, 2026.
The overall performance of Al-Nassr in SPL Standings Table reads – 27 matches, 23W, 1D, 3L, 76GF, 21GA, 55GD, 70 points.
Al Nassr is followed by Al-Hilal (64 points) and Al Ahli (62 points) at the 2nd and 3rd positions in the SPL Table.
Ronaldo narrows gap as top SPL goal scorer
Cristiano Ronaldo was the Saudi Pro League Top Goal Scorer till the 10th week of the latest SPL season. He however lost the top spot to Ivan Toney of Al Ahli Saudi, mainly because he was off the ground in a number of matches due to various reasons.
Ivan Toney is currently the SPL top goal scorer with 25 goals after the 26th Matchweek when Ronaldo’s total goal was 21.
However, with the brace during the Al Nassr vs Al Najma Friday, Ronaldo narrowed the goal difference, taking his total to 23. The Al Nassr vs Al Najma Friday was also Ronaldo's 100th match for Saudi Roshn League (RSL) - the official sponsor of Saudi Pro League.
Ronaldo however remains the top goal scorer in international football. The Portuguese footballer, who eyes the historic milestone of 1,000 goals, has now a total of 967 career goals to his credit.
Al-Nassr will now face Al Akhdoud next Saturday i.e. April 11, 2026 in the 28th round of Saudi Pro League ongoing season.
On the other hand, Al Ahli will be playing against Damac whereas Al Hilal will play against Al Taawoun today i.e. Saturday April 04, 2026 in the last encounters of the Saudi Pro League Matchweek 27.
[The writer Zohair M Safwan Faizee is Staff Writer at ummid.com]
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