Furious Cristiano Ronaldo lashes out at referee in awkward moment during Al-Nassr clash - The Mirror

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 953rd goal of his career on Saturday, as Al-Nassr beat newly-promoted Neom 3-1 and maintained their stronghold on first place in the Saudi Pro League

Cristiano Ronaldo furiously lashed out at the referee in Al-Nassr's most recent match - then got his way soon after. Ronaldo, 40, was on the scoresheet again as Al-Nassr beat Neom 3-1 on Saturday to maintain their three-point lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League.

But it wasn't plain sailing for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner and his team-mates. The game was goalless at half-time, prompting Ronaldo to slam referee Abdullah Al Shehri as the players left the pitch.

In a sarcastic rant, the Manchester United legend said: "Well done, well done. Keep going like that, you're doing a good game - very good game you do."

Within two minutes of the restart, Al-Nassr took the lead through Angelo Gabriel. Neom were quickly reduced to 10 men when Al Shehri sent Luciano Rodriguez off for violent conduct following a VAR review.

Then, Al-Nassr were awarded a penalty, sparring Ronaldo's blushes after he missed a chance from close range. Joao Felix was adjudged to have been fouled, allowing Ronaldo to score his 953rd career goal.

Felix bagged the third while Neom grabbed a late consolation, but it was too little too late as Al-Nassr secured a 3-1 victory away from home. It was Jorge Jesus' side's third win on the bounce and their 14th of the season in just 16 games.

Al-Nassr are top of the table by three points, as Ronaldo aims to win the Saudi league title for the first time and end his wait for a major trophy at club level since leaving United in December 2022. "Working on our dream!" the former Real Madrid superstar posted on social media after the match.

Recently, Ronaldo claimed that it was harder to score goals in the Saudi top flight than La Liga, having spent nine glittering years in Madrid. "I don't need to speak, because they can say whatever they want, the numbers don't lie," the Portuguese told Piers Morgan Uncensored.

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"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. 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." Ronaldo went on to say: "If I played in the Premier League now, in a top team, I would score the same."

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