Against Hasa Conquest, Ronaldo finally scored his first goal for Riyadh's victory. Even in the Saudi league, which is regarded as a "nursing home", Ronaldo can only score with penalties, which is enough to show his weakening form.
Questioned after 0 goals in 2 games
It is somewhat embarrassing that after making two appearances for Riyadh victory, Ronaldo still cannot score his first goal. Whether it was facing Itifak in the league or against Jeddah United in the semifinals of the Saudi Super Cup, Ronaldo failed to score, but Talisca scored a goal in each of the two games to steal Ronaldo's limelight.
In these two games, Ronaldo only had 5 shots on goal and 1 shot on target, 5 breakthroughs and 2 successes, conceded 22 goals, and scored only 6.9 points in both games. Garcia analyzed the problems of the team, believing that Ronaldo and Talisca often withdrew from the box, resulting in no one in the box.
Not only that, Ronaldo was also tackled by Jeddah's joint rival defender, and his ankle was bruised at one point, which made him question whether he could play in the match against Al Ahsa's conquest. However, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was desperate to score, quickly resumed training.
After being eliminated by Jeddah, Riyadh victory coach Garcia publicly said that Ronaldo missed a good opportunity before the end of the first half to become a turning point in the game, and Garcia later said that Ronaldo would not end up victorious in Riyadh, which caused some speculation.
Steal the limelight by the god Triota
After overcoming injuries, Ronaldo continued to start. However, Ronaldo did not receive enough support, and in the 16th minute of the match, former Barca winger Tello, who only joined Hasa Conquest on January 25, scored his first Saudi league goal with a world wave.
Talisca then scored with a push from the middle of the penalty area to equalise for Riyadh Victory. In 13 league appearances this season, Talisca scored 13 goals and was the top scorer in the league.
After the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, Riyadh won and scored four goals in three games, the first three of which were scored by Taliska. Almost the same shots, the same shooting spots, Talisca jumped and Cristiano Ronaldo hit the crossbar with a kick, which reflected their different forms.
Luck or state?
In the first half, Ronaldo scored 6.6 points, only above goalkeepers Rossi and Barbari. In fact, he had 3 shots and 1 blocked 2 shots deflected, but he didn't have a single shot on target, while he only succeeded in 4 breakthroughs and conceded 6 goals.
After failing to score in the previous two games, Ronaldo was already very anxious, choosing to shoot directly from a free kick 40 meters away, sending the ball into the goal after obvious offside, and shaking his finger at the referee, all reflecting his impatience.
After Ghalib chose to shoot instead of passing the ball to himself, Ronaldo even jumped in anger. However, he was not in good form enough, and after Talisca hit the post, Ronaldo almost faced an empty goal, but his shot was outrageous.
After seeing Ronaldo angry, Ghalib then sent a necessary goal for Ronaldo, but the latter's shot hit the crossbar.
Similar to the two chances missed against Jeddah, the two missed chances by Ronaldo were crucial and if he took them, Riyadh Victory would have come around in the first half. However, Ronaldo missed the opportunity and gave the opponent a chance to make a comeback in the second half.
In the second half, Ronaldo broke through beautifully and burst into the box, and the crosses from the bottom line were also quite accurate, but Talisca headed high over the crossbar, allowing Ronaldo to rub shoulders with his first assist in the Saudi League.
Behind the virgin ball
Fortunately, Masaripov's penalty at a crucial moment allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to score his first goal for Riyadh's victory in the way he knew best.
It was Cristiano Ronaldo's first goal for Riyadh Victory, the 820th of his career and the 702nd of his club career. At the same time, Cristiano Ronaldo also broke a 99-day club football drought, with the last time he scored at the club was against Sharif on October 28, 2022.
After the goal, Ronaldo did not make any celebratory moves, but rushed into the goal and ran to the halfway line after holding the ball, and his desire to win was evident.
If this victory is won over the Al Ahsa conquest, Riyadh victory will overtake Riyadh Juniors in the standings and leap to the top of the table. However, taking one point each against the opponent allowed Riyadh to miss out on the top.
After the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, Riyadh won only 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat in 3 games, and only scored 4 goals. Before Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival, Riyadh was unbeaten in 13 games, with 9 wins and 4 draws.
It is worth emphasizing that the last two goals of Cristiano Ronaldo's club have been penalties. The media originally thought that Ronaldo would kill all sides in the Saudi league, but only scored one penalty in 3 games, which may be enough to explain why Ten Hach and Santos put Ronaldo on the bench.