Al Nasr thrashes Al Shabab 4-0 for second straight win
Silence in opening two games; five-goal outburst in two games after Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr) has become the leading scorer in the Saudi Professional League (SPL) with his second consecutive multi-goal outing.
Ronaldo started and played the full 85 minutes of Al Nasr’s 4-0 home win over Al Shabab in the fourth round of the 2023-24 SPL at KSU Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday (Sept. 30), scoring twice from the penalty spot to lead the team to a 4-0 victory.
After notching one assist in rounds one and two, Ronaldo was one assist shy of a hat trick in a 5-0 thrashing of Al Ahly in round three on Oct. 26, and his two goals (one assist) quickly moved him to the top of the league’s scoring charts, one goal behind teammate Sadio Mane and the next three in second place.
Al Nasr, who lost their opening two games, have won two in a row to move up to sixth place (2W2L) with Ronaldo’s rebound.
Al-Shabaab, winless in their opening four matches (D2 L2), remain in the relegation zone in 17th place.
South Korean international Kim Seung-kyu was the star of the show in goal for Al-Shabaab.
Al Nasr pushed their opponents hard from the start. A couple of saves by Kim kept Al Nasr from taking the lead, but not for long. In the 13th minute, a penalty kick was awarded after a handball foul by the Al Shabaab defense on a cross. Ronaldo stepped up to take the spot kick and fooled Kim Seung-gyu with a right-footed shot into the right corner of the goal. Six minutes later, Ronaldo rattled the net again with a header from a corner kick, but the goal was disallowed after video assistant referee (VAR) showed him pushing a defender before the goal.온라인바카
Al Nasr added another goal in the 38th minute. Ronaldo entered the box and was brought down by a foul from the Al Shabab defense. A penalty kick was awarded. Ronaldo aimed for the right corner, just as he did for the first goal. Kim Seung-gyu read the direction this time, but the ball was fast. Two minutes later, Ronaldo sent a non-stop pass to Mane, who was penetrating the right side of the box in front of the penalty arc, to set up Mane’s goal. Al Nasr ended the first half up 3-0, effectively sealing the game.
Al Nasr didn’t let up in the second half. If not for a couple of saves by Kim Seung-gyu, Al Shabaab could have scored more goals. To make matters worse, Al Shabab’s hopes of finding an equalizer were dashed in the 33rd minute when midfielder Eber Banega was shown a red card for an elbow that sent Sultan Al Ghanam tumbling to the ground. Al Nasr made it 4-0 two minutes later with another goal from Al Ghannam.