Cristiano Ronaldo sends defiant four-word message to rivals after Al Nassr win

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Cristiano Ronaldo issued a strong message to Saudi Pro League rivals after his side returned to winning ways with a 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh.

Al Nassr dropped two vital points in a 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal last week, but it was former Liverpool star Sadio Mane who found the back of the net to claim all three this time.

Ronaldo was largely on the periphery in his side’s 1-0 win over Al-Riyadh

It was a disappointing draw for the Saudi Pro League side against Al-Hilal a week ago when they claimed a late point through Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s 77th minute equaliser.

Al-Nassr were ahead within a minute from Talisca’s early goal, but their opponents and current league leaders found a point to keep them at the summit of the league table.

Against Al-Riyadh, Mane scored the only goal just before the break, prompting Ronaldo‘s defiant message on Instagram: “Victory fuels our rise.”

Mane, the ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward who scored 120 goals under Jürgen Klopp and 12 in total for the German side, moved to Al Nassr in August last year.

It came after his former Liverpool teammates Fabinho and Roberto Firmino contacted him in a bid to convince him to make the move.

Throughout the game Ronaldo was largely peripheral with Mane’s heroics stealing the spotlight, despite the Portugal forward still having scored six goals in eight games this campaign.

However, Ronaldo regularly comes under fire for the high number of penalties he scores. Four of his eight in the league this season so far have come from the spot.

The last goal he scored from open play came in August as he scored a header in a 1-1 draw with Al-Raed.

It’s former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic who tops the goalscoring charts in the Middle East, with the Serbian shooter having netted 11 times in 10 matches.

Having won just one trophy since the big money move to the Saudi Pro League last January, he will be keen to win the title come the end of the season.