Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his stunning winning for Al Nassr with a prostration followed by his trademark Siiuuu celebration. Ronaldo did a Sujud, which is the act of low bowing or prostration to Allah facing the qiblah (direction of the Kabba at Mecca). The 38-year-old then followed that up with his customary Siiuuu celebration.
Ronaldo scored in the 59th minute as Al Nassr battled back from 2-0 down to keep their title hopes alive in the Saudi Pro League. If second-place Al-Nassr had lost the Riyadh derby then leader Al-Ittihad, which beat Al-Batin 1-0 earlier, would have been crowned champions with two games of the season remaining.
Cristian Guanca opened the scoring in the 24th minute from the spot after Luiz Gustavo was penalized for handball. Guanca doubled their advantage in the 40th minute but Talisca reduced the deficit just before the break.
Winger Abdulrahman Ghareeb leveled in the 51st minute when he was left unmarked in the box to slot the ball home from close range.
Just before the hour, Ronaldo put Al-Nassr ahead in style, sprinting past two defenders to curl a shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
It was the Portugal star’s 14th goal since joining after the World Cup.
‘To be 2-0 down is very difficult but we believed until the end and scored three goals so congratulations to the team and the supporters who were amazing today,’ the former Real Madrid star said.
Al-Ittihad is three points clear at the top of the standings.
Ronaldo said the Saudi league is slowly improving: ‘Step-by step I think this league will be in the top five leagues in the world but they need time, they need players, they need infrastructure.’
There are now just two games remaining for each side in the season, with Al-Nassr trailing their rivals by three points with an equal goal difference but more goals scored. Leaders Al Ittihad beat bottom-of-the-table Al Batin 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Al Nassr will be hoping the leaders slip up in at least one of their two remaining matches. They still have to face 12th-place Al Feiha and eighth-place Al-Ta’ee, while Ronaldo and his side will take on 10th-place Ettifaq before also facing Al Fateh
