In the AFC Champions League 1 8 finals in midweek, Ronaldo scored the first goal of the new year to help Riyadh win 1-0. After a few days of adjustment, Riyadh Victory ushered in the 20th round of the Saudi League, sitting at home against 7th-ranked Al Ahsa. The last time the two sides met, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and fans were expecting the president to repeat the miracle. In this game, Cristiano Ronaldo scored again, Otavio won, and Riyadh won 2-1, narrowing the gap to 4 points.
In order to get all three points, Riyadh Victory did not hold back, continuing to play a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Cristiano Ronaldo playing the lone arrow, Otavio playing the front midfield, Mane and Talisca on either side, Brozovic sitting in the back, Laporte and Telles leading the back four.
After the start of the game, Riyadh Victory firmly controlled the initiative with the cheers of the home fans, and constantly launched attacks. In the 15th minute, Brozovic made a direct pass in front, Otavio picked up the pass with his back and the middle of Talisca inserted a volley and missed a great opportunity.
However, 1 minute later, Riyadh Victory opened the gap from the right side, Ganem reversed the triangle and passed back to the middle, and Ronaldo grabbed the ball and volleyed into the bottom right corner to help the team break the deadlock, 1-0! Cristiano Ronaldo not only scored in two consecutive official matches, but also contributed 21 goals in 19 league appearances, leaving Mitrovic behind him and continuing to sit at the top of the scorer list.
In addition, this is also Ronaldo's 747th goal and 875th career goal in the club, continuing to break his own record and moving towards the 900-goal mark. It is worth mentioning that Ronaldo's non-penalty goals reached 714 goals, officially surpassing Messi with 713 goals.
However, with one goal in hand, Riyadh Victory suffered an injury, goalkeeper Najjar could not continue to hold on, and veteran Abdullah came on as a substitute to lay the groundwork for the next goal conceded. In the 29th minute, Al Ahsa conquered a set-piece in front, Batna crossed into the penalty area, Arau Jami cleared not far away, Naidi volleyed extremely high quality, Abdullah pounced and still entered the net, equalizing for Hasa Conquest, 1-1!
In the 31st minute, Telles crossed from a set-piece on the right side of the field, and Ronaldo showed super bounce and air ability, and his header was slightly off. Cristiano Ronaldo's ability to steal the ball was a weapon for Riyadh to score victoriously, constantly creating a threat through crosses. In the 35th minute, Brozovic crossed a tactical corner kick, and Ronaldo grabbed the point and shook his head to attack the goal, grazing the crossbar out of bounds.
In stoppage time, Telles crossed from the left, and it was Ronaldo who pressed the opponent's defender's header to the far corner, but he missed the post again. missed goals one after another, and Ronaldo also showed a wry smile. Just before half-time, Tello broke through an inverted triangle pass on the left, and Séralayan fired a high-quality long-range shot from the top of the arc, which Abdullah flew to save and the two teams returned to the dressing room with a 1-1 scoreline.
In the 48th minute, Tello broke through the left side of the penalty area and caused chaos with a low cross, Tavares volleyed a shot at the neutral post, and then Serraljan fired too hard from close range and bounced off the crossbar, and Riyadh Victory escaped.
In the 54th minute, Batner forced a breakthrough with the ball, and was put to the ground by Laporte in front of the goal, and the slow motion showed that Laporte obviously kicked the opponent's calf, but the referee mercilessly refused to award a penalty. In the 59th minute, Tello showed his ability to break through the left side and shoot from a small angle, Abdullah kept the ball away, and the wind was loud in front of the Riyadh victory goal.
In the 70th minute, Mane made an inverted triangle pass from the left side, and Talisca met the ball and volleyed it too squarely, which was confiscated by the Al Ahsa goalkeeper. In the 72nd minute, Ronaldo played the role of a fulcrum, retreated to the right side of the ball, Ganem crossed the ball, Otavio flew into the net, and Riyadh won 2-1 again.
With this goal, Riyadh won a thrilling victory and achieved a season double against Al Ahsa. After this battle, Lu Yadong won one more game and fell behind the top Crescent Moon by 4 points to keep his hopes of winning the championship.