Saudi Pro League 2024-25: Ronaldo opens his account but Al-Nassr draws with Al-Raed

Ronaldo scored, celebrated, and even changed the scoreline briefly before VAR ruled him offside by the slightest of margins to disallow his goal that would have given Al-Nassr the lead for the second time in the match, and him a brace.

Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts during the match against Al-Raed. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Cristiano Ronaldo opened his account in the 2024-25 Saudi Pro League as Al-Nassr started the new season with a 1-1 draw against Al-Raed at the Al-Awwal Stadium in Riyadh on Thursday.

After a slow start, both sides began to stringing together passes and creating chances by knocking at the other’s goal. This brought the action to a boil with viewers of the match waiting for an impending goal.

Al-Nassr skipper and last season’s topscorer with a record-breaking 35 goals, Ronaldo had a first real chance in the ninth minute Talisca curled one inside the box to find the Portuguese forward at the far post, but he could only connect with his shin. Luck seemed to favour him as he got a second go at it as he tried to toe-poke it inside the goal.

While the attempt was parried away with a goal line clearance, it wouldn’t have mattered as the lines referee flagged the Al-Nassr striker offside.

The match went into a simmer before Ronaldo leapt to send Sadio Mane’s cross, which he flicked over into the box as he was hugging the line, into the back of the net with a thumping header in the 34th minute.

Al-Raed had a few good chances in the first half, which included a goal that was flagged offside, but was unable to change the scoreline at the break as the host kept its nose ahead at halftime.

Drama was awaiting the players early on in the second half as Aymeric Laporte was seen bringing down Mohamed Fouzair inside the box, which initially earned him marching orders. However after a long VAR check, the referee downgraded the red card to a yellow and pointed to the spot for a penalty kick.

Fouzair calmly slotted the ball into the bottom right corner and equalised for Al-Raed in the 49th minute.

There were moments where both sides came agonisingly close but were denied the chance to celebrate. Just before the hour mark, Anderson Talisca tried his luck on goal after his curling effort from a freekick looked to shake the net but debutant goalie Bento was alert to the threat as he dived and punched the ball away.

Ronaldo scored, celebrated, and even changed the scoreline briefly before VAR ruled him offside by the slightest of margins to disallow his goal that would have given Al-Nassr the lead for the second time in the match, and him a brace.

In the 90+11th minute of stoppage time, Al-Nassr players were seen jumping around and calling for a handball inside the box, which led the referee walk to the screen on the sidelines only to dismiss the appeals with a quick shake of his head.

Aymeric Laporte had the last touch of the match when a well-connected shot at the goal would have given his side the lead and the win, but the defender’s attempt went wide before the full time whistle was blown.