Criano Ronaldo’s Saudi title hopes revived after leaders lose

Criano Ronaldo’s hopes of winning the Saudi league title with Al-Nassr were given a shot in the arm on Wednesday when leaders Ittihad lost 2-1 to Al-Taawoun.
Ittihad are still in the driver’s seat on 59 points, three ahead of Al Nassr, with five games left to play. Ittihad also have the upper hand in the head-to-head record between the sides this season.
Fahd Al-Rashidi scored once in each half to give Al-Taawoun a 2-0 lead before Abderrazak Hamdallah replied in the 76th minute.
Ronaldo, who has scored 12 league goals since joining Al-Nassr in January, also posted a photo on Twitter with Al-Nassr’s motto “ANA AALAMY” in Arabic in the early hours on Thursday.

انا_عالمي #ANA_AALAMY💛💙 pic.twitter.com/tgmxYeGKN4
— Criano Ronaldo (@Criano) May 3, 2023
Earlier, on April 29, Ronaldo scored his first goal in four games on Friday to help Al-Nassr to a 4-0 win over Al-Raed, keeping alive the team’s slim Saudi Pro League title hopes.
With five matches remaining this season, Al-Nassr remain second in the league, three points behind leaders Al-Ittihad having played a game more than their rivals.
Ronaldo, who joined Al-Nassr in January on a contract estimated the media to be worth more than 200 million euros ($220 million), had looked disgruntled in recent weeks as Al-Nassr failed to score in three straight games.