Cristiano Ronaldo scored in his first appearance since leaving Portugal’s Nations League side as Al-Nassr won for the first time in three games in all competitions to beat Al-Diriyah to move second in the Saudi Pro League at Al-Awwal Park.
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who started the victory at home to his country about Wales but he headed home after being benched for their win in Norway, slotting home from close range after goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah spilled Kingsley Coman’s shot, with the goal allowed after a video assistant referee review for a potential offside against Sadio Mane.
Al-Nasr They doubled their lead before the break when new signing Samu Costa headed in Joao Felix’s corner and they could have been 3-0 up at half-time if Qasem Lajami had cleared the former Chelsea striker’s shot off the line.
Coman fired home courtesy of Mane, broke into the box and scored a late third before Berat Djimsiti headed home for Al-Diriyah.
The result drew Al-Nassr level on points with leaders Al-Qadsiah and will have provided some relief for new head coach Ange Postecoglou after the holders’ four-game winning streak in all competitions immediately preceded the international to break
Samo Costa finds the net 🎯🔥
#Al-Nasr_Diriyah | #Roshen_Saudi_League https://t.co/SilBXRjwxB— Eight Sports (@thmanyahsports) October 9, 2026
How Cristiano Ronaldo came back with Al Nassr
Ronaldo made a lengthy statement following the saga of his first training camp under new Portugal coach Jorge Jesus, who was his boss at Al-Nassr last season.
Fans raised a banner in tribute to the 41-year-old as Ronaldo returned to domestic action, celebrating in style after scoring and sharing a jovial exchange with opposition striker Darwin Nunez at one point.
Recently managed by Portuguese coach Bruno Lage, formerly of Benfica and Wolves, Al-Diriyah are ninth after a promising start to their first season in the division and went closest shortly after the break when Enzo Millot’s curling effort from distance was tipped onto the post by Bento, although the effort could have gone wide.
Joao Felix had a second-half shot from inside the area saved by Abdullah, whose side had taken 11 points from their first seven league games but fell short of the point they needed to climb to seventh.
what happens next Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr matches
Al-Nassr are next in action at home to Uzbekistan Super League side Neftchi Fergana in their second Champions League game of the season, five days before Al-Diriyah return to league action.
| date | game | Start time BST | E.T | P.T |
| Monday, October 12 | Al-Nassr vs Neftchi Fergana | 7:15 p.m | 2:15 p.m | 11:15 a.m |
| Sat, October 17 | Al-Diriyah vs Al-Taawoun | 7:00 p.m | 2:00 p.m | 11:00 |
Team Al Nassr vs Al Diriyah
Al-Nassr made three changes from their 4-0 defeat at Al-Ain in the Champions League on September 15, bringing in Bento, defender Awad Aman and striker Coman.
Rakan Al-Ghamdi (knee) and Sultan Al-Ghanam were out with knee injuries and Saad Al-Nasser was on the bench after a hamstring problem.
Al-Nassr starting XI: Bento, Nawaf Boushal, Mohamed Simakan, Inigo Martinez, Awad Aman, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Samu Costa, Kingsley Coman, Sadio Mane, Joao Felix, Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes for Al-Nassr: Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi, Nader Al-Sharari, Majed Qasheesh, Saad Al-Nasser, Sami Al-Naji, Sufiany, Ayman Yahya, Saad Haqawi, Abdullah Al-Hamdan
Team Al Diriyah vs Al Nassr
Abdullah replaced injured goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj in one of three changes for Al-Diriyah following their 0-0 draw at home to Abha on 13 September.
Defenders Hussain Al Sibyani and Qasem Lajami also entered.
Al-Diriyah Starting XI: Waleed Abdullah, Abdulaziz Al-Faraj, Berat Djimsiti, Chancel Mbemba, Hussain Al Sibyani, Idrissa Gueye, Qasem Lajami, Enzo Millot, Oscar Rodriguez, Adil Boulbina, Darwin Nunez
Al-Diriyah substitutes: Mansour Al-Subiani, Saeed Al-Rabiei, Khalid Al-Asiri, Taher Wadi, Mohammed Dhiban, Sultan Al-Farhan, Hussain Al-Qahtani, Lovro Chelfi, Meshari Al-Nemer
Statistics Al Nassr v Al Diriyah
- Al-Nasr have a perfect record at home this season (W4), with Ronaldo scoring once in each of the last three of those games
- They have scored in each of their last 95 league games, although in their previous game they went down 4-0 at Al-Ain in the Champions League.
- Since a 4-0 win at Al-Riyadh in the division on August 21, Al-Nassr had gone six games in all competitions without keeping a clean sheet before this match.
- Only Al-Hilal (+18) and Al-Qadsiah (+13) have a better goal difference in the division than Al-Nassr (+12, F19 A7)
- Before the final round of matches, only second-placed Al-Ahli could match Al-Diriyah’s defensive record of five goals conceded in the top flight this season, with two of four teams having conceded fewer than Al-Nassr (7).
- Since losing 4-1 at home to Al-Nassr in the Copa del Rey on August 18, Al-Diriyah’s only other defeat had come at home to leaders Al-Qadsiah (W3 D2)
- Their only previous meeting with Al-Nassr had been a Copa del Rey round-of-16 tie in January 2016, losing 7-0 as Adrian Mierzejewski scored a hat-trick.
- Despite conceding the most goals of any team in the second tier last season (39 in 34 games), Al-Diriyah finished third before coming from behind in the play-off final to beat Al-Ula after extra time.
- Only Abha’s Sylla Sow and Al-Orobah’s Simy (27 each) surpassed Al-Diriyah striker Gaetan Laborde’s total of 26 goals during that campaign.
- Al-Raed’s Zinho Gano (3) was the only player to score more hat-tricks in the second phase last season than France’s Laborde (2), netting hat-tricks against Al-Adalah and Jeddah.
