Saudi Pro League · Round 8
Ronaldo 7 moves twenty goals closer to a thousand
Cristiano Ronaldo struck his 980th senior career goal in the 23rd minute of Al Nassr's 3-0 home win over Al Diriyah at Al-Awwal Park on Friday night, finishing from close range after the visitors' goalkeeper spilled Kingsley Coman's shot. Samu Costa headed a second before half-time and Coman added the third in the 77th minute to send the club up to second in the table.
The road to 1,000
20 goals remainingHow the night unfolded
Those numbers underline why the milestone still matters at 41. Ronaldo started and finished the match, played the full 90 minutes in a Saudi Pro League schedule that is relentless through the summer, and still produced the match's highest rating. He was denied earlier in the half when a clever chipped finish was flagged for offside, but he did not let that shape the evening — the 980th came from pure reaction, arriving at the far post the instant Coman's effort was parried loose.
From the tifo to the transfer window
The goal carried obvious weight beyond the scoreline. Before kick-off, Al Nassr supporters unfurled a huge banner carrying the CR7 emblem alongside the message "Greatness is earned" — a clear response to the disruption around the captain's recent national-team episode. Chants of his name broke out again in the seventh minute, marking the shirt number as much as the man.
On the field, Al Nassr were clinical in the second half and deserved the clean sheet. That matters in a division where the title race is tight: the club climbed to 19 points from eight matches, level with the leaders and second on the table, with games in hand and two fixtures already on the calendar before the next international break. Al Diriyah, by contrast, arrived with three wins from five and an unbeaten away record, and left Al-Awwal Park without a point.
Ronaldo now sits 20 goals short of 1,000. At the current rate he gets there inside a season, and the Saudi Pro League schedule offers the fixtures to do it. He has said as much himself — and, judging by Friday night, he intends to keep collecting them.
Wear the number 7 shirt
Four Al Nassr shirts from the current and previous seasons, each with separate buttons for Men's, Women's and Youth's fits. Where a fit is not stocked on its own, the button points to the closest matching shirt in that cut.
Twenty to go
Al Nassr host again in the Saudi Pro League this weekend. Pick the yellow, pick the navy, and be there when 981 arrives.
