Cristiano Ronaldo scores 980th career goal as Al Nassr beat Al-Diriyah

Cristiano Ronaldo moved to within 20 goals of reaching 1,000 in his career after scoring in Al Nassr’s 3-0 victory over Al-Diriyah in the Saudi League.

The Portugal forward opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, with the ball rebounding off former team-mate Waleed Abdullah as the goalkeeper tried to save Kingsley Coman’s shot.

The goal was Ronaldo’s 980th across his football career. He is already Al Nassr’s leading scorer in the Saudi Pro League, with 106 goals for the club in the competition.

Samo Costa doubled Al Nassr’s advantage in the 35th minute, finishing an attack that began with a corner.

Coman completed the scoring in the 77th minute when he ran through on a counter-attack and went one-on-one with Abdullah.

The result, in the eighth round of the Saudi League, ended a two-match winless run for Al Nassr. They had drawn 1-1 with Al-Khaleej in their previous league fixture before suffering a 4-0 defeat by Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the AFC Champions League Elite.

Al Nassr moved up to second in the table with 19 points, level on matches played with leaders Al Qadsiah but behind them on goal difference. Both clubs have played eight matches.

Al Hilal are third with 18 points, while Al-Ittihad have 17 before the two sides meet in Saturday’s El Clasico, also in the eighth round.