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But the Portuguese did not score after poker in the last round.

In the last round of the Saudi Arabian championship, Cristiano Ronaldo finally showed what Al Nassr signed him for. The five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or scored poker against Al-Wahda and brought his team a significant victory with a score of 4:0. Today, Al Nassr's rival was more serious - one of the competitors in the fight for gold. Al-Taawoun was seven points behind the leader before this round. If the guests had restrained Ronaldo and outplayed the hosts, they would have returned to the race for the title.

From the start of the game,Al Nassr fans chanted the Portuguese's name in the worship of their new football god, with Ronaldo himself in the spotlight on the pitch. For the first time, he found himself in a unique position already in the fourth minute, opening behind the backs of the defenders and trying to beat in the penalty area with a cunning trick the center back-captain of Al-Taawoun Naldo - the same ex-player of Krasnodar, whom Spartak refused last summer in favor of Micha Mevli. But the Brazilian knocked the ball out from under Cristiano's feet, and after that, the referee raised the flag, indicating that the striker got into a slightly offside position.

This confrontation in the rhyme of Ronaldo - Naldo continued further. Soon the Portuguese shot from 17–18 meters, removing the Brazilian with a feint on the second attempt. But it was shot above the target. Without scoring in the game's opening, Cristiano, in the 17th minute, scored a goal for Al Nassr with a brilliant pass. The striker from the center of the field cut a diagonal into the left half-flank on Abdulrahman Ghareb, and his access was not interrupted by either Naldo or Al-Taawoun's right-back, who touched the ball. Al-Gharib coolly implemented a one-on-one exit. Ronaldo has established an excellent rapport with the fast, technical player from Saudi Arabia. Before this, Al-Gharib helped Cristiano score.

In the first half, Al Nassr was better and scored a goal. The host's attack at speed turned into a problem for the guests. In general, watching the matches of the championship of Saudi Arabia, you again conclude that football there is exciting. There is not much skill among local players, but the desire to move the ball quickly can be forgiven for an excess of marriage. Ronaldo delivered two shots on goal in 45 minutes, he could well have scored, but in the second moment, he hit on technique and with a pause, but it was worth it for strength and immediate. He only stretched the goalkeeper.

But the second half began with a cold shower for Ronaldo's team. Already in the 47th minute, Al-Taawoun equalized the score by scoring with the second shot of the match on target against Al Nassr. The guests broke through the left flank of the hosts' defense, and the Spanish midfielder Alvaro Medran closed the cross with a touch on the far post. Al Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi unsuccessfully jumped out of the gate, but he acted uncertainly even before the break - he made mistakes on the way out and made passes with his feet out of bounds or to someone else. By the way, in the mid-2010s, Medran played with Ronaldo for Real Madrid and spent five matches as part of the Creamy. Then none of them could have imagined where they would intersect in 2023.

Al-Taawoun improved their ball control, while Al Nassr lost something in the game. Then a new wave of host attacks still hit the gates of the guests. Having received a pass from Al-Gharib, Cristiano was again close to a goal: he pierced the ball from several meters - the goalkeeper made an excellent save with his foot. After that, Ronaldo, together with his partners, begged for a penalty for handball. The episode began with Naldo's blunder when receiving the ball from the goalkeeper. But the replay convinced the judges that the hand of the Al-Taawoun defender was pressed. A few minutes later, the Portuguese spoiled the two-on-one counterattack with a pass to the opponent, and Al Nassr missed the return attack! Cristiano's mistake almost became fatal for his team. Nevertheless, the goal was canceled due to offside, although the ball got to the forward of the guests from the hosts' defender.

The ending was very hot. Ronaldo was looking for a goal; sometimes, out of habit, he shifted to the left. So the striker beat Naldo in the penalty area (today's game of the Brazilian made me doubt that he was stronger than Mevli) and shot into the near top corner - the goalkeeper made another save. And in the 78th minute, Al Nassr scored the winning goal with the participation of Cristiano. Perhaps Ronaldo made the most curious "assist" in his career. After hitting a partner, the Portuguese stood in the way of the ball, which flew past or into the post. I just put my foot up. The ball rebounded to the defender Abdullah Madu, who sent it into the net. A goal under the crazy whistle of the crowd was checked for offside for a long time. In the end, the judges, after watching the replays, came to a fair decision: Ronaldo was not in an offside position and did not interfere with the goalkeeper when he beat Mada.

Al Nassr, not without luck, kept the victory with a score of 2:1, effectively removing the competitor and remaining the leader with 40 points. Al-Ittihad has the same issues as Al-Shabaab, which has more per game. With all his activity, Ronaldo left the field without a goal, completing the meeting with 49 touches of the ball, four shots (three on target), and four passes under the blow. But now Cristiano has assisted in the new team: the Portuguese scored 5+2 in five matches for Al Nassr.

17.02.2023