Cristiano Ronaldo shone in his first bow in Saudi Arabia despite ending up on the losing side The 37-year-old forward scored twice in a pulsating nine-goal thriller at the King Fahd Stadium Messi and Ronaldo both got their names on the scoresheet as PSG beat Riyadh All-Stars 5-4. Cristiano Ronaldo was crowned the man of the match following his brace in an exciting exhibition game held at the King Fahd Stadium. Ronaldo, who was making his first bow since swapping Europe for the Middle East, reminded everyone of his goalscoring attributes with two goals.
The 37-year-old scored his first via the penalty spot before following it up with an opportunistic strike which ensured Riyadh XI went into the break at par with PSG.
CR7 was withdrawn just after the hour mark as PSG upped the ante, despite being one man down, to beat the Riyadh select side.
His performance within 60 minutes was enough to merit the man of the match prize which was presented to him after the end of the game. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner will be expected to continue in a similar fashion when Al-Nassr faces Al-Etiffaq on Sunday, January 22. Ronaldo bags brace in friendly Cristiano Ronaldo responded to Lionel Messi’s opening goal with a quickfire brace in an enthralling exhibition game.
In what was Ronaldo’s first game on Saudi soil since joining Al-Nassr the Portuguese superstar stole the headlines with a first-half brace. But it was his long-time rival Lionel Messi who drew first blood when he tucked the ball home after he was put through on goal by a delicious Neymar pass.
PSG edge Riyadh XI Sports Brief earlier reported that Cristiano Ronaldo recovered from a punch in the face to score twice against Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday in a lively reunion with his great rival Lionel Messi that demonstrated the financial firepower of the resource-rich Gulf.
Ronaldo, 37, was decked by PSG’s keeper Keylor Navas’s flailing fist but he drilled the resulting penalty and then added another in a 5-4 exhibition defeat, his first appearance since moving to Saudi Arabia in a deal said to total more than 400 million euros. For Qatar-owned PSG, Messi and Kylian Mbappe both scored and Neymar missed a penalty before they withdrew on the hour-mark alongside Ronaldo, who was representing a composite Saudi side, to leave the world’s four best-paid players watching from the bench in Riyadh.
