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Two-Goal Odion Ighalo Outshines Cristiano Ronaldo As Al-Hilal Dent Al Nassr's Saudi Pro League Title Bid

Cristiano Ronaldo was upstaged by another former Manchester United striker on Tuesday when Al Nassr lost 2-0 at Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.

Robert Summerscales

Two-Goal Odion Ighalo Outshines Cristiano Ronaldo As Al-Hilal Dent Al Nassr's Saudi Pro League Title Bid
Two-Goal Odion Ighalo Outshines Cristiano Ronaldo As Al-Hilal Dent Al Nassr's Saudi Pro League Title Bid /

Al-Hilal 2-0 Al Nassr

Cristiano Ronaldo was upstaged by another former Manchester United striker on Tuesday when Al Nassr lost 2-0 at Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal.

Odion Ighalo, who scored five goals in 23 games for United between January 2020 and January 2021, scored two penalty kicks to put a big dent in Al Nassr's bid for the Saudi Pro League title.

Ighalo won the first spot-kick himself in the 40th minute after his acrobatic bicycle kick resulted in the ball striking the arm of defender Abdulelah Al-Amri.

Ighalo then coolly rolled the ball into the net after sending the keeper the wrong way.

Odion Ighalo pictured celebrating after scoring for Al-Hilal against Al Nassr in a Saudi Pro League game in April 2023
Odion Ighalo pictured celebrating after scoring for Al-Hilal against Al Nassr :: Saudi Sports Company SSC/Twitter/@ssc_sports

English referee Michael Oliver pointed to the spot again 15 minutes into the second half when Al-Hilal winger Michael was fouled at high speed by Jaloliddin Masharipov.

Ighalo opted to place his penalty exactly where he had put his first and the outcome was the same.

Al Nassr needed something special from Ronaldo.

He provided a moment of magic in the 76th minute when he brilliantly controlled a long pass before hammering the ball into the top corner.

But a VAR review showed that Ronaldo had been marginally offside and the goal was ruled out.

Ronaldo was denied by another VAR intervention soon after.

Referee Oliver initially awarded Al Nassr a penalty for handball after Ronaldo had fired a free-kick into the Al-Hilal wall.

But replays later showed that the ball had struck a defender's back, rather than his arm.

Tuesday's defeat saw Al Nassr lose significant ground in the battle to catch leaders Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League title race.

Al-Ittihad are three points above Al Nassr and have played one game fewer.

Al Nassr have just six league matches left to play, while Al-Ittihad have seven games remaining this season.

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.