Cristiano Ronaldo called upon his legion of fans to capture the majesty of his overhead kick goal for Al Nassr on Sunday night with a challenge on social media: “Best caption wins!”
The 40-year-old Portuguese icon rolled back the years with an acrobatic effort in the 96th minute of Al Nassr’s 4–1 victory over Al Khaleej, extending the club’s perfect start to the Saudi Pro League season to nine successive wins.
After a premature elimination from the King’s Cup in October delayed Ronaldo’s quest for a major trophy in the Kingdom, Al Nassr have made a strong push to claim top-flight glory this year.
Yet, despite his spectacular exploits, this has not been a vintage campaign for the relentless goalscorer. Much like Sunday’s ascent up an invisible staircase into the sky, the vast majority of Ronaldo’s 10 league goals this season have not decisively swung the game in Al Nassr’s favor.
In fact, only twice this year has the club captain scored while his team weren’t already winning. The first of those saw Ronaldo nudge Al Nassr into a 2–1 lead against Al Fateh before his teammates piled on in what turned out to be a 5–1 win. The Portugal international did convert a dramatic 104th-minute penalty to earn a 2–1 victory over Al Fayha earlier this month, although that spot kick was awarded in extremely dubious circumstances.
Ronaldo isn’t even Al Nassr’s top scorer this season, with his compatriot João Félix leading the way on 11 league goals.
