Ronaldo edges closer to 1,000 career goals in SPL victory

KUALA LUMPUR: If it didn't already, 1,000 career goals for Cristiano Ronaldo is looking to be inevitable.

Ronaldo scored a 15-minute hat trick for Al Nassr to lead his team to a 5-3 Saudi Pro League win over Al Kholood on Thursday and take his career goals total to 985.

With the score tied 2-2, Ronaldo scored in the 66th, 72nd and 81st minutes to seal the win and leave himself just 15 goals shy of 1,000.

After the game, Ronaldo posted on social media: "Great win, great team performance. Happy to help with a hat-trick!"

Ronaldo is already the leading goalscorer in soccer history - 49 ahead of second-placed Lionel Messi's 936 - and will likely continue to pad his statistics with Al Nassr this season and his involvement with Portgual.

French forward Julien Domingues opened the scoring for Al Kholood after 16 minutes before Al Nassr levelled through Ângelo Gabriel.

Sadio Mane put his team into the lead and Antoine Essomba equalised in stoppage time at the end of the first half, before Ronaldo took control.

The former Real Madrid star scored two close-range goals and headed home his third in between for his seventh career hat trick for Al Nassr since moving to Saudi Arabia in 2023.

Ronaldo now has a staggering 67 career hat tricks for club and country across competitions (44 for Real Madrid, 10 for Portugal, seven for Al Nassr, three for Manchester United and three for Juventus).

Joao Felix, Ronaldo's Al Nassr and Portugal teammate, also had four assists on the night as Al Nassr stayed second in the SPL table on 28 points.