Cristiano Ronaldo lashed out at an unsuspecting referee on the day he took a step closer to his target of 1,000 career goals.
The Portugal legend scored a second-half penalty in Al-Nassr’s 3-1 win at Neom, helping the team gain daylight at the top of the Saudi Pro League with eight wins from eight.
That was the 953rd goal of his astonishing career for club and country and he shows no sign of letting up aged 40, having hit 10 goals in 11 games for Al-Nassr this season.
But tensions flared at half-time on Saturday when the score was still 0-0 as Ronaldo took displeasure at some of referee Abdullah Al Shehri’s decisions.
As other players left the field, Ronaldo confronted Al Sheri and unleashed a sarcastic verbal barrage.
‘Well done, well done. Keep going like that, you’re doing a good game – very good game you do,’ he said, via the Daily Mirror.
Cristiano Ronaldo kicked off at a referee at half-time during a Saudi Pro League match
Ronaldo is chasing his target of 1,000 career goals and is now up to 953 for club and country
It’s not clear exactly what he was referring to, but the tables quickly turned in Al-Nassr’s favour in the second half.
Angelo Gabriel gave Al-Nassr the lead within two minutes of the restart and things only got worse for Neom when Luciano Rodriguez was sent off for violent conduct.
After a foul on Joao Felix, Ronaldo had the chance to convert a spot-kick – redeeming himself for an earlier miss – and double his side’s lead.
Neom clawed one back in the 84th minute thanks to Ahmed Abdo Jaber, but Felix quenched any rising hope for the home side moments later with his own strike.
Some may accuse CR7 of having an easier time of boosting his numbers in the Middle East compared to if he played in a top European league.
But in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, the former Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus star insisted that the Saudi Pro League is a challenging division, perhaps even equivalent to the Premier League.
‘I don’t need to speak, because they can say whatever they want, the numbers don’t lie. They can say “oh, it’s the Saudi league” – they’ve never been here, played here, they don’t know how to run in 40 degrees,’ he said.
‘And I still continue, I repeat, the Saudi league, it’s much better than the Portuguese league of course, the French league there is only PSG. Premier League is good of course, it’s the number one.
‘Listen, I’ve played everywhere, for me, it’s easier to score in Spain than to score in Saudi.
‘If I played in the Premier League now, in a top team, I would score the same.’
