Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed a happy return to Riyadh after his troubled international break as he notched his 980th career goal in Al Nassr’s win over Diriyah.
The 41-year-old striker could scarcely have asked for an easier night after the controversies of the previous two weeks.
The defending Saudi Pro League champions had a routine 3-0 win over Diriyah at Al Awwal Park that was entirely free of aggravation.
Ronaldo scored the first himself, pouncing on a loose ball and firing into an empty net after Kingsley Coman had seen his shot saved.
The Portugal star looked far sharper than he had in the lead up to the international break, and looked uninhibited by his row with Jorge Jesus, the Portugal coach.
Speculation in Europe on the day of the game suggested Ronaldo is going to be suspended by Portugal for his part in the controversy.
Ronaldo left the Portugal camp, angered by the decision of Jesus – his former coach at Nassr – not to field him in the second match of the window, as he said had been agreed.
In a 1,740-word statement in the days that followed, Ronaldo accused Jesus of lying, and of not treating him as a player “of the stature of Pele and Maradona”.
It has been claimed the Portuguese federation could ban Ronaldo for up to six months for his outburst. Despite that, Ronaldo was sharp from the off against Diriyah. He had the ball in the net early on, only for it to be chalked off for offside.
That came within a minute of a significant show off support by the Nassr fans. In the eighth minute, a huge banner which covered the entirety of the stand where the home ultras sit was unfurled, saying: “Greatness Is Earned. CR7.”
Ronaldo also could have had two assists before he opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, laying on presentable chances for Sadio Mane and Samu Costa.
Both saw their shots saved, but it seemed cleared that Ronaldo was trying to make a point about being a team player.
On that subject, the response to his goal was maybe instructive. When he scored, he raced to the corner flag and did his trademark “Siuu” celebration.
He was not exactly engulfed by teammates, though. A few made their way towards him in dribs and drabs, one of whom was Joao Felix, his Portugal teammate.
Later in the game, with Nassr 2-0 up after Costa had added the second, Ronaldo might have had a second goal of his own.
He and Coman were clean through with just the goalkeeper to beat as the Diriyah defence was AWOL.
Coman opted to score himself, though, when he might have squared the ball for Ronaldo. While Ronaldo was the obvious headline act in the game, the win also eased some of the pressure on Ange Postecoglou.
The Australian coach had made a fine start to his tenure in charge of Nassr at the start of the season, but had grown increasingly irate in the lead in to the international break.
That was in response to having his methods questioned after Nassr’s form had stalled, so the 3-0 win immediately on their return was gratefully received.
“I thought it was a good performance,” Postecoglou said of a result which takes Nassr up to second in the SPL table. “Obviously, it is always good to win and we scored three good goals, kept a clean sheet.
“In general, I thought it was a really good, strong performance and against a difficult opponent, so I'm happy.”
