Ronaldo scores second hat-trick in 3 days in Al Nassr’s Saudi league win

Ronaldo leads the Saudi league’s goal-scoring chart with 29 goals, but Al Nassr trail Al Hilal by 12 points.

Cristiano Ronaldo notched his second hat-trick in the space of 72 hours as Al Nassr routed Abha 8-0 in the Saudi Pro League.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored three goals and recorded two assists in the first half for the nine-time Saudi Arabian champions on Tuesday.

The hat-trick was his third of the league season following his treble in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Al Tai. The Portugal forward leads the league with 29 goals.

Ronaldo’s first two goals on Tuesday came from free kicks. With 11 minutes on the clock, he opened the scoring with a low shot from a central position just outside the area. The second came 10 minutes later when he curled the ball around the wall from the left side.

Ronaldo then assisted Sadio Mane for Al Nassr’s third just after the half-hour, pulling the ball back from the left for the former Liverpool forward to score.

Three minutes before the break, Ronaldo completed the hat-trick with a beautiful chip from outside the area as he ran towards goal. There was still enough time in the first half for Ronaldo to slip the ball to his right for Abdulmajeed Al-Sulayhim to score into an open goal from close range.

A Hat-Trick that was just meant to be 🐐💪 pic.twitter.com/PPfxUsdLWk

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) April 2, 2024

The star was taken off at the break, though Al Nassr continued to find the target. Saudi Arabian international Abdulrahman Ghareeb added a sixth soon after the restart and substitute Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa scored two more.

Despite the win, Al Nassr are still second, 12 points behind runaway leaders Al Hilal, with eight games remaining.

Al Hilal announced earlier in the day that striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, second behind Ronaldo with 22 goals, is likely to miss the rest of the season through injury.