Cristiano Ronaldo and teammate Sadio Mane were each on target twice in Al Nassr's 5-2 drubbing of Karim Benzema's Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Tuesday.
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The five-time Ballon d'Or winner reunited with his former Real Madrid colleague for a clash in the Middle East, with the former earning bragging rights with his two goals on the night.
Abderrazak Hamdallah opened the scoring for last season's league champions in the 14th minute, before Ronaldo equalised from the penalty spot just five minutes later.
Brazilian midfielder Talisca then put Al Nassr ahead seven minutes before the break, although Hamdallah was on hand again shortly after the match resumed to draw level for Al Ittihad.
Al Ittihad's hopes of taking something from the game, at home, were dashed when Ronaldo netted a second from the spot to make the score 3-2, a goal that took his calendar-year tally to 53.
Ronaldo has now scored more times this year across all competitions than Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
???? Cristiano Ronaldo scores two goals on penalty for Al Nassr and makes it 5??3?? goals in 2023 calendar year.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 26, 2023
Current situation ???
? Cristiano Ronaldo — 53
? Harry Kane — 52
? Kylian Mbappé — 52
? Erling Haaland — 50 pic.twitter.com/QEp5zipViP
Al Nassr's lead later increased after two strikes from former Liverpool superstar Mane, who ended his three-month goalless run in Saudi Arabia's top division.
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The victory sees Al Nassr go within seven points of league leaders Al Hilal, while Al Ittihad have fallen 22 points behind first place.
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