Cristiano Ronaldo scored in his third straight match since returning from a boycott of his team to lead Al Nassr back into first place in the Saudi Pro League with a 5-0 win over bottom-side Al Najma on Wednesday.
Ronaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the seventh minute, with Kingsley Coman and Iñigo Martínez adding first-half goals of their own to stake the hosts to a 3-0 lead at the break.
Sadio Mané scored early in the second half, at which point Al Nassr manager Jorge Jesus began to withdraw his star players, including Ronaldo, who now has 20 goals in the league this year — three behind Al Ahli‘s Ivan Toney in the race for the Saudi Golden Boot.
The win for Al Nassr was their SPL-leading 19th of the season and put them on 58 points from 23 games. They have lost only one game in the league so far this season and lead second-placed Al Ahli by two points.
Ronaldo missed the games against Al Ittihad and Al Riyadh earlier this month over the lack of financial support for the club in the recent transfer window.
The Portugal star was reportedly unhappy with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) for failing to invest in the team while rivals Al Hilal — also 75% majority owned by the PIF — brought in his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad.
