Cristiano Ronaldo delivered another spectacular performance for Al-Nassr, bringing his career total to 985 official goals and moving within touching distance of the historic 1,000-goal milestone. However, his latest hat-trick has sparked an angry reaction among Saudi soccer supporters, with a disagreement over his statistics threatening to overshadow another remarkable individual achievement.
The 41-year-old forward scored three times in Al-Nassr’s entertaining encounter with Al-Kholood on Thursday, helping his side secure a 5-3 victory. His clinical second-half display reinforced his importance to the team, although the match also exposed defensive weaknesses that allowed the opposition to remain competitive.
Al-Nassr faced a difficult first half after Julien Domingues opened the scoring for Al-Kholood, but Angelo Gabriel and Sadio Mane helped the home side turn the game around. Antoin Essomba equalized before the interval, leaving the teams level at 2-2 despite Al-Nassr’s attacking quality.
Ronaldo took control after the break, scoring in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes to complete his hat-trick and put Al-Nassr firmly in command. Domingues later converted a stoppage-time penalty, but Al-Nassr held on for a 5-3 win, with Joao Felix also playing an important creative role before his half-time substitution.
The performance reportedly brought Ronaldo’s career tally to 985 goals under the Saudi Pro League’s official records, leaving him 15 goals short of the 1,000-goal landmark. His latest treble was also described as the 67th hat-trick of his career, further underlining his remarkable scoring record.
Supporters challenge major statistics providers
The celebration soon gave way to controversy when social media accounts started criticizing Opta, Sofascore and FotMob for continuing to list Ronaldo with seven Saudi Pro League goals this season, rather than the eight recognized by the league.
Saudi soccer fan-account Saudifutbol expressed its frustration in a strongly worded post, arguing that the competition’s official governing body should determine the statistics recorded for its matches. “The SPL is the official organizing body of the Saudi Pro League, and they’re the ones who make the final decisions on league statistics!” the account wrote.
It continued: “The SPL officially credits Ronaldo with 8 GOALS, so why the hell are you still showing 7 goals?! … IT’S 8 goals, not 7!” The post included a graphic contrasting the competing figures, highlighting how a single disputed goal has created a discrepancy between the league’s records and those displayed by several prominent soccer statistics platforms.
The disputed Al-Faisaly goal behind the row
The disagreement stems from Al-Nassr’s 3-1 victory over Al-Faisaly on October 23, when Ronaldo appeared to make contact with a free-kick delivered into the penalty area by Joao Felix. The ball subsequently deflected off Al-Faisaly defender Andrei Girotto before entering the net, raising questions about whether Ronaldo or the defender should receive credit.
According to Saudi insiders, the referee’s official match report credited the goal to Ronaldo, and the Saudi Pro League upheld that decision following a review. Opta, Sofascore and FotMob, however, classified the incident as an own goal by Girotto, leaving Ronaldo with one fewer league goal on their platforms.
That disagreement explains why the competing records differ despite referring to the same match. The Saudi Pro League’s position is that its official match documentation and review procedures determine its domestic statistics, while external providers retain their own goal-attribution classifications.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr celebrates after scoring
The difference extends beyond Ronaldo’s seasonal league statistics because the disputed goal also affects his overall career tally. Using the league’s official count, the Portuguese superstar stands on 985 goals and needs 15 more to reach 1,000; records excluding the disputed strike place him one goal lower, leaving him 16 short.
