Cristiano Ronaldo delights his fellow Saudis by performing a bow of prostration before his trademark Seo celebration after his stunning volley completed a 2-0 comeback victory to win 3-2 over Al Shabab.
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his stunning winner of victory with a bow of prostration followed by his trademark Siiuuu.
Ronaldo performed the act of prostration, which is to kneel or prostrate to God, facing the Qibla (the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca).
Then the 38-year-old followed that up with his usual Siiuuu celebration.
Ronaldo scored in the 59th minute as Al-Nassr struggled from 2-0 down to keep their Saudi Professional League title hopes alive.
If the second-placed team had lost the Riyadh Derby, it would have led Al-Ittihad, who beat Al-Batin 1-0 earlier, to be crowned champions with two matches remaining at the end of the season.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the second half to set up a stunning comeback for victory
Ronaldo celebrated his stunning victory victory with a bow of prostration on Tuesday night
Then the 38-year-old followed that up with his usual Siiuuu celebration
Cristian Guanca opened the scoring in the 24th minute from the penalty spot after Luiz Gustavo was penalized for handball.
Guanca doubled their advantage in the 40th minute, but Talisca pulled one back just before the break.
Winger Abdul Rahman Gharib equalized in the 51st minute when he was left unmarked inside the penalty area to fire the ball into the net from close range.
Just before the hour, Ronaldo put the victory ahead in style, slashing past two defenders to loop into the top corner from the edge of the area. It was the Portuguese star’s 14th goal since joining after the World Cup.
“Being 2-0 down is very difficult, but we believed until the end and scored three goals, so congratulations to the team and the fans who were great today,” said the former Real Madrid star.
Al-Ittihad leads the standings by three points.
Ronaldo said that the Saudi league is slowly improving: “Step by step I think this league will be among the five best leagues in the world but they need time, they need players, they need infrastructure.”
There are now only two games left for each team in the season, with Al-Nassr trailing by three points with an equal goal difference but more goals scored.
Leaders Al-Ittihad defeated the leaders of the sub-standard 1-0 on Tuesday evening.
Al-Nassr will hope the leaders make mistakes in at least one of their remaining two matches.
They still have to face 12th-place Fayhaa and eighth-placed Al-Tayy, while Ronaldo and his team will face 10th-place Al-Ettifaq before they also face Al-Fateh.
