By Victor Kanayo
Portuguese captain Cristiano Ronaldo, on Friday scored his first goal for his Saudi Arabia club Al Nassr against Al Fateh in their league clash.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid player netted an injury time penalty at a period it looked like he would go another game without scoring as his Al Nassr side were trailing deep into stoppage time.
During the encounter, Ronaldo missed several chances, had a goal ruled out for offside and hit the bar it.
How the clash panned out
Al Fateh took the lead early on with a goal in the 12th minute from former Barcelona player Cristian Tello, a less high-profile recent recruit to football in Saudi Arabia.
It was Al Nassr’s top scorer and Brazilian player Talisca, who brought Al Nassr back into the game with a 42nd minute equaliser at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Sports City Stadium.
With the sides trading chances in the second half and Al Nassr’s star man cutting an increasingly frustrated figure it was Algerian Sofiane Bendebka of Al Fateh who scored next.
His 58th minute goal seemed to have given the underdogs an unexpected victory and piled on the frustration for the league’s most visible player.
In the 92nd minute of the match, Ronaldo converted a penalty to grab a late draw for Al Nassr against mid-table side Al Fateh.
Ronaldo’s debut for Al Nassr came in a 1-0 victory over Ettifaq on January 22, before a defeat to Al Ittihad in the Saudi Super Cup.
