39-year-old striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored three goals with his head, right foot and left foot, in Al Nassr’s 6-0 win over Al Wehda in round 30 of the Saudi League.
In just the past 35 days, Ronaldo has scored three hat-tricks, despite being suspended for two matches last month. He raised his all-time record to 890 goals in 1,220 matches, approaching the milestone of 900 goals, including 66 hat-tricks. “It feels great,” the Portuguese superstar wrote on social networks after the match. “Thank you team and fans.”
Ronaldo’s opening goal (left) in the match Al Nassr won 6-0 against Al Wehda in round 30 of the Saudi League at Al Awal Stadium, Riyadh city, evening of May 4, 2024. Photo: ANFC
Ronaldo celebrates his hat-trick. Photo: ANFC
In the fifth minute, from a failed pass from Morocco goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi, Ronaldo cut the ball at the edge of the penalty area, then curled it into the far corner into the empty net to open the score. Seven minutes later, midfielder Marcelo Brozovic hung the ball from the left to the second post for captain Al Nassr to jump high and head to the near corner, marking a double and a dream start.
Al Wehda is ranked 987 in the world, lower than all American Professional League (MLS) clubs, according to the Opta strength index . Despite also having former Man Utd striker Odion Ighalo, the away team did not score a single shot on goal, and even conceded four more goals.
In particular, Ronaldo marked his hat-trick in the 52nd minute with a left-footed shot to the top corner in a face-to-face position, from Sadio Mane’s slot. His three goals were scored with his right foot, head and left foot respectively, known as a perfect hat-trick. This is the 10th time he has scored a perfect hat-trick in his career, while Lionel Messi has never done this even once.
Ronaldo has scored 59 goals in 46 matches for Al Nassr in all competitions this season, including 47 goals and 12 assists. In the Saudi League top scorer race, he scored 32 goals, nine goals ahead of the player behind Aleksandar Mitrovic.
However, Al Nassr has almost no chance of winning the Saudi League title, as it is still nine points behind Al Hilal, with only four matches left. The only remaining possible goal for Ronaldo and his teammates is the King Cup final on May 31 against Al Hilal.
