Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates 1,200th match with goal and assist for Al Nassr

Veteran attacker plays key role in 4-1 Saudi Pro League win over Al Riyadh

Cristiano Ronaldo, left, celebrates after setting up a goal for Al Nassr teammate Otavio, right, during the Saudi Pro League match against Al Riyadh at King Saud University Stadium. Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his 1,200th professional match with a goal and an assist as he helped his Saudi League side Al Nassr to a 4-1 win over Al Riyadh on Friday.

The 38-year-old opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark when he tapped in a cross from Sadio Mane, who had had a goal disallowed in the first minute of the game.

Ronaldo strengthened his grip at the top of the league's scoring charts with his 16 goals from 15 matches and helped his team to bounce back following a 3-0 defeat to leaders Al Hilal last Friday.

“Three more points!” the Portuguese posted on social media. “Thankful to all my teammates who helped me reach my 1,200th match. What a ride but we’re not done yet!”

Three minutes into first-half injury time, Ronaldo assisted on his countryman Otavio’s headed goal.

Al Nassr’s Brazilian Talisca netted twice in the second half, with a consolation goal from Al Riyadh’s Andre Gray coming in between.

Ronaldo's side are second in the standings with 37 points, seven adrift of Al Hilal, while Al Riyadh are 14th with 16 points.

“Cristiano Ronaldo has now played in 1,200 professional matches,” the Saudi League posted on social media, as the former Real Madrid player moved closer to Peter Shilton, who leads the list of male players with most official appearances.

Former England goalkeeper Shilton is acknowledged as the record holder for the most competitive men's professional games, though the total is disputed. Some statistics websites say the tally is 1,390 but Shilton himself, on his X feed, gives it as 1,387.

Ronaldo also marked his 1,000th senior appearance with a goal in February 2020, scoring for Juventus in Serie A.

In June, he became the first men's player to win 200 international caps when he featured for Portugal against Iceland, and he is also the top international scorer with 128 goals.