Ronaldo hat-trick helps Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 5-3

AL-KHALEEJ: Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 5-3 in round 12 of the Saudi Pro League on Thursday. Captain Cristiano Ronaldo completed a hat-trick with goals in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes.

The first half was tightly contested. Al-Khaleej took the lead in the 16th minute through a goal by Julian Dominguez, and Angelo equalised for Al-Nassr in the 24th minute. Sadio Mane put Al-Nassr ahead in the 38th minute. However, in the second minute of added time, Loic Essomba levelled the score for Al-Khaleej at 2-2.

Two of Ronaldo’s goals were disallowed for offside in the first half, one in the 10th minute and the other just before the half-time whistle. In the second half, Ronaldo made it 3-2 from a pass by Joao Felix. He then scored a second with a header from another Felix cross. The third goal came with an assist from Mane. Felix set up four goals in the match.

In added time, Al-Khaleej were awarded a penalty after a VAR review. Dominguez converted it to score his second goal.

According to reports, these goals took Ronaldo’s career tally to 985, 15 short of 1,000 goals. It was the 67th hat-trick of his career, including 44 for Real Madrid, 10 for Portugal, seven for Al-Nassr, three for Manchester United and three for Juventus.

On the same day, Ronaldo, 41, was also named winner of the first BOAT (Ballon d’Or All-Time) award. In a fan vote, his 2008 season beat Lionel Messi’s 2012 season.

The win took Al-Nassr level with Al-Qadsiah on 28 points, although they have played one match fewer. Al-Hilal have 27 points with a game in hand. Al-Khaleej are tenth with 12 points.