WATCH: Criano Ronaldo misses open goal against Al Fateh, skies the shot over
For majority of his career, Criano Ronaldo earned his name scoring goals from obscure angles and being an absolute goal poacher. However, the 37-year-old Portuguese has found it tough to live up to his reputation of late.
Since his arrival at Al Nassr, Ronaldo has scored only twice, that too for Saudi All Star against Paris Saint Germain in an exhibition game. A game PSG won 4-5. Since then, Al Nassr have lost the Saudi Super Cup semifinal against Al-Ittihad, a defeat after which the star forward came under scrutiny.
After the match, Al Nassr manager Rudi Garcia put some blame on that gilt edged chance Ronaldo as one of the reasons for losing the match. “One of the things that changed the course of the match was Criano Ronaldo’s missed opportunity in the first half,” he said.
Criano Ronaldo’s open goal miss against Al Fateh 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/o6VRQ1WaLb
— BP (@blaugranaball) February 3, 2023
In his most recent outing, the Saudi Pro league club dew 2-2 with Al Fateh. A game that saw Ronaldo miss from inside the box in front of an empty goal.
In the first half, with Al Fateh leading, Al Nassr’s Talisca hit the far post following a move from the left. In the follow up, Ronaldo had an empty goal gaping, with the Al Fateh goalkeeper still on ground after a dive. The Portuguese however, skied the shot over.
Later in the game, Ronaldo converted from the spot to equalise in the stoppage time of the second half as Al Nassr shared a point with the home team.
Ronaldo had been a free agent after his contract was terminated Manchester United in November last year following an explosive TV interview in which he criticized manager Erik ten Hag and the club’s owners after having been repeatedly benched and even temporarily suspended the club.
