In the early morning of December 31, Beijing time, a key match in the 19th round of the Saudi League was played by Buraidah at home against Riyadh Victory. In the first half, Mahdivi scored from the penalty spot, Brozovic equalised, and Laporte took the lead, and in the second half, Otavio doubled the lead and Cristiano Ronaldo hit the post and scored a goal in stoppage time. In the end, Riyadh won 4-1 against Buraidah Cooperation and won four consecutive league wins.
Last season, Riyadh's main opponent for the title was Jeddah United, who eventually overtook the championship, and this season it became the city's rival Riyadh Crescent, which continued to lead the standings with a 7-point advantage, putting Ronaldo's team under a lot of pressure to compete for the title.
Now that the first half of the Saudi league is over, Riyadh Victory continues to trail by 7 points, and to catch up with Riyadh Crescent, there is no room for loss in every round of the league. In this round, Cristiano Ronaldo followed the team to the team to challenge fourth-placed Buraidah, who beat Riyadh 2-0 away at the beginning of the season, but Ronaldo did not play well and missed the opponent's first goal.
In this game, Riyadh Victory had a bad start and gave the opponent a penalty, but fortunately, as the game deepened, it gradually took control of the situation, scored 4 goals in a row to achieve a reversal, and also completed the revenge for Buraidah's cooperation.
With the win, Riyadh Victory points reached 46 points and remained in second place, seven points behind leaders Riyadh Crescent, retaining their title hopes.
In this game, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal and played 31 games in all competitions this season, contributing 30 goals and 11 assists, including 20 goals in 18 league games, and 9 assists, while leading the league's scorer and assist charts.
In addition, Cristiano Ronaldo locked his personal goal tally this year at 54 goals, officially crowned the title of the 2023 top scorer, and the fifth time in his career that he did so, ranking first in history.
At present, Ronaldo has scored the 873rd goal in his career, the 745th goal in his club career, and the 532nd goal in his league career, setting a new all-time record held by himself.
Specific review of the competition——
In the 11th minute, Riyadh Victory defender Hanam fouled in the penalty area, and Mahdivi's penalty shot was saved, and he immediately scored the goal to help Buraidah take a 1-0 lead.
In the 27th minute, Talisca sent a through assist, and Brozovic inserted a one-handed push to score to help Riyadh win a 1-1 equaliser.
In the 35th minute, Brozovic took a corner kick and assisted Laporte's header to help Riyadh win 2-1.
In the 50th minute, Brozovic passed to the goal, Buraidah's co-defender cleared the ball and turned it into an own assist, and Otavio pushed the goal to help Riyadh Victory extend the score 3-1.
In the 55th minute, Brozovic sent a pick-up pass, and Ronaldo kicked it off with a single chance and missed a good opportunity.
In the 72nd minute, Ronaldo's shot in the penalty area hit the post and popped up, covering his face and not believing.
In the 92nd minute, Ronaldo scored with a header and scored the 54th goal of the year, helping Riyadh win 4-1.