Saudi Pro League: Cristiano Ronaldo's first-half hattrick helps Al ...

Cristiano Ronaldo made it back-to-back hattricks for Al Nassr as he netted three goals and assisted two in the first half of his side’s 8-0 thumping of Abha in the Saudi Pro League at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium on Tuesday.

Ronaldo started the scoring with a freekick under the wall and doubled the lead ten minutes later with another freekick that went through a gap in the wall.

The 39-year-old then went on to assist his teammate and former Liverpool and Bayern Munich player Sadio Mane, before dinking the ball over the opposition keeper from far out to complete his 65th career hattrick.

He capped off an eventful first 45 minutes by laying off the ball for Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem, making it five out of five goal involvements in the first half.

HIGHLIGHTS | Al Nassr vs Abha Highlights, Saudi Pro League: ABH 0-8 NAS; Hattrick and two assists for Ronaldo in the first half

Despite Ronaldo being subbed off after the first half, Al Nassr maintained the tempo and dominated the game through Portuguese midfielder Otavio. He assisted Abdulrahman Ghareeb a few minutes into the second half, setting him up for a top-corner finish.

Half-time substitute Abdulaziz Al-Aliwa also netted twice in the second period to cap off a dominant Al Nassr display.

Ronaldo currently leads the list of top scorers in this season of the Saudi Pro League with 29 goals, while Al Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrovic is in second with 22.

Despite the recent good form, Al Nassr is second in the table, 12 points behind league leader Al Hilal, and will next face Damac in the league.