Two Cristiano Ronaldo Assists Help Al Nassr Beat Al-Taawoun To Go Top Of Saudi Pro League

Cristiano Ronaldo provided two assists for Al Nassr against Al-Taawoun on Friday. The second was awarded after a long VAR review for a possible Ronaldo offside.

Al Nassr 2-1 Al-Taawoun

Cristiano Ronaldo provided two assists for Al Nassr against Al-Taawoun on Friday.

The first came in the 17th minute after the 38-year-old had played a long-range pass to Abdulrahman Ghareeb from inside his own half.

د18' الهدف الأول لـ النصر عن طريق عبدالرحمن غريب

النصر 1 × 0 التعاون#النصر_التعاون | #SSC pic.twitter.com/zWctpVHutP

— SSC (@ssc_sports) February 17, 2023

Ronaldo's second assist arrived deep into the second half after Alvaro Medran had equalized for Al-Taawoun.

The ball hit the net in the 78th minute but the goal was not awarded for another 239 seconds due to a long VAR review.

Ronaldo was initially flagged for offside after he had redirected a hopeful shot from teammate Luiz Gustavo into the path of Abdullah Madu.

A quick replay showed that Ronaldo had not been offside when Gustavo shot but the VAR review did not stop there.

د78' الهدف الثاني لـ النصر عن طريق عبدالله مادو

النصر 2 × 1 التعاون#النصر_التعاون | #SSC pic.twitter.com/HkIm4MMvwu

— SSC (@ssc_sports) February 17, 2023

The question then became: Had Ronaldo been interfering with play when Madu shot the ball past him into the net?

Ronaldo was stood in an offside position at this point and close to the goalkeeper's line of vision.

But after reviewing the footage on a pitchside monitor, the referee decided to award the goal.

Al Nassr's win took them back to the top of the Saudi Pro League.

Cristiano Ronaldo assisted two goals for Al Nassr on Friday :: Saudi Sports Company SSC/Twitter/@ssc_sports