Cristiano Ronaldo’s Hattrick Run Ends but Al Nassr Pick Hard Fought 1:0 Win at Damac

• Al-Nassr extended their winning streak to four games
• Defender Aymeric Laporte scored in injury time vs Damac
• Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score after coming off the bench

Cristiano Ronaldo's remarkable goal-scoring streak came to a halt, but Al-Nassr still clinched a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Damac.

The 39-year-old has been on a purple patch in recent weeks, including bagging back-to-back hat-tricks in a space of 72 hours, but on Friday, April 5, he could not add to his goal tally (29).

Ronaldo climbs off bench to spur Al-Nassr to victory

With a titanic clash against league leaders, Al-Hilal, in the Saudi Super Cup on the horizon, coach Luis Castro opted to afford Ronaldo, Marcelo Brozovic, and Sadio Mane some rest.

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While their absence took some bite off the attack, the Knights of Najd still looked dangerous as young Saudi forward Meshari Al Nemer and brace hero from the Abha game, Abdulaziz Al Elewai, went close in the opening stages.

However, their efforts were fruitless, and Damac held the Riyadh-based giants to a goalless draw at halftime.

Castro then opted to shake up his team by introducing Mane and Sultan Al Ghannam, who had missed the last five games for Al-Nassr due to injuries, as they went in search of the opener, Sportstar reports.

With little to no success in their quest to break the game's deadlock, Cristiano entered the field in the 66th minute, injecting energy into the team's attack.

His involvement almost led to a goal when his cutback found Abdulrahman Ghareeb, whose shot struck the crossbar.

In another attempt, Ronaldo improvised to connect with a through ball, only for a Damac defender to clear his effort off the line.

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Ultimately, it was Aymeric Laporte who emerged as the unlikely hero, scoring a decisive header in stoppage time to break the deadlock and secure victory for Al-Nassr.

The team celebrated their consecutive home wins at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Stadium, following their 8-0 thrashing of Abha on April 2.

Ronaldo reacts after Al-Nassr victory

Sports Brief also reported that Cristiano Ronaldo reacted after leading Al-Nassr to a hard-earned victory against Damac on matchday 27 in the Saudi top flight.

Ronaldo took to social media to express his satisfaction, emphasising the significance of the win.

He shared his thoughts on X (formerly known as Twitter), accompanied by a fist pump emoji.