Ronaldo Hat-Trick Fires Al Nassr to 5-3 Win Over Al Kholood, Reaching 985 Goals

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Al Nassr beat Al Kholood 5-3 in the Saudi Pro League on Thursday, October 29. The match was played at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh in round 12 of the season. The goals took Ronaldo to 985 career goals by most counts. He is now 15 short of 1,000.

It was a wild first half. Julien Domingues put Al Kholood ahead in the 16th minute. Ângelo Gabriel levelled for Al Nassr in the 24th. Sadio Mané then made it 2-1 in the 38th. Antoine Essomba hit back for Al Kholood in first-half stoppage time. The teams went into the break level at 2-2.

The second half belonged to Ronaldo. He scored in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes, three goals in 15 minutes. João Félix set up the first two. The first was a simple tap-in. The second was a header from a Félix cross. Mané played a part in the third, and Ronaldo beat a goalkeeper who was out of position.

Domingues scored a penalty in stoppage time to complete his brace and make it 5-3. It came too late to matter. Ronaldo played all 90 minutes. He had six shots, four of them on target, and two were blocked. Match data gave him an expected goals figure of 1.97, and he was rated 9.2 on Sofascore. Al Nassr's defence gave up three goals, while Al Kholood conceded five.

The 1,000-goal mark keeps getting closer. Ronaldo said in August 2024 that he wanted to reach it. He is now 41 and still scoring regularly. In January, he opened the scoring in a 3-0 away win over the same opponents. That goal took him to 961 career goals at the time. Career totals vary between outlets, and the official count remains debated. Al Nassr stay in the title race after this win.