Cristiano Ronaldo Edges Closer to 1,000 Career Goals with Al Nassr Victory
Cristiano Ronaldo moved to within touching distance of an astonishing four-figure milestone on Friday night, dragging Al Nassr to a 2-1 win over Al Taawoun and edging closer to 1,000 career goals.
He is now on 978. Just 22 to go.
Record night in Riyadh
In a tight, tense game, Ronaldo delivered when it mattered most. With the score locked at 1-1, he struck the decisive goal in the 50th minute, the moment that settled the contest and rewrote Al Nassr’s record books.
Across 80 minutes on the pitch, he posted an xG of 1.08, stitched play together with a 90% pass completion rate, and – crucially – found the one finish that counted. That strike confirmed him as Al Nassr’s all-time top scorer in the Saudi Pro League era, his tally rising to 104 league goals and nudging him past Mohammad Al Sahlawi’s previous mark of 103.
His dominance at the club now stretches beyond the league. Ronaldo has pulled level with Al Sahlawi’s 131 goals for Al Nassr in all competitions, leaving only the legendary Majed Abdullah ahead of him on 259. One icon chasing another.
Goals, goals, and more goals
The match itself followed a familiar pattern for Al Nassr: they scored, they suffered, and they found a way.
Al Taawoun stunned the league leaders early, Bassam Al Hurayji striking in the 11th minute to silence the home crowd. Al Nassr probed and pushed, and the equaliser finally came deep into first-half stoppage time, Samuel Costa making it 1-1 in the 45’+5.
The pressure told again shortly after the restart. Ronaldo, as so often, provided the difference. His winner not only completed the turnaround but extended Al Nassr’s extraordinary scoring streak to 91 consecutive matches.
That run is now the second-longest in football history. It is already the longest active streak in the Saudi game, and they are just six matches away from owning the world record outright. Ronaldo sits at the heart of it: 155 goal contributions in 150 appearances for Al Nassr underline just how relentlessly he has driven this team forward.
Top of the table, questions for the rest
The reward for another hard-fought victory is clear. Al Nassr sit alone at the top of the Saudi Pro League, four wins from four, 12 points from 12, and playing with the conviction of a side that expects to score every time it steps onto the pitch.
For Al Taawoun, the picture is far darker. Two points from their opening four games leave them marooned in 15th place, a long way from the ambitions they carried into the season.
This surge from Al Nassr comes on the back of a wild 3-2 comeback against Al Ettifaq in the previous round. That night, Ronaldo’s frustration boiled over when manager Ange Postecoglou hauled him off at half-time with the team 2-0 down. The captain threw his arms up, dropped the armband to the turf, and cut an angry figure as he made his way off.
Postecoglou’s gamble worked. Sadio Mane struck twice after the break to flip the match on its head, and the coach later backed his star forward, describing Ronaldo as “passionate about football and passionate about Al-Nassr”.
The evidence is everywhere. In the records broken, the goals chased, the streak extended. And with 1,000 career goals now looming on the horizon, how many more nights like this does he still have in him?
