{"id":35167,"date":"2026-05-22T17:15:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=35167"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:21:19","slug":"ronaldos-brace-fires-al-nassr-to-saudi-league-title","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ronaldos-brace-fires-al-nassr-to-saudi-league-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldo\u2019s brace fires Al Nassr to Saudi league title"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><span style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to help Al Nassr clinch the Saudi Pro League title with a 4-1 victory over Damac on the final day of the season, with Sadio Mane and Kingsley Coman also on the scoresheet for Jorge Jesus\u2019s side.<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The win meant Al Nassr finished on 86 points, two clear of rivals Al Hilal, who beat Al Fayha 1-0 but were left to settle for second place.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The triumph marks Al Nassr\u2019s first league crown since 2019 and the first Saudi title for Ronaldo, who joined the team in late 2022.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Al Nassr broke the deadlock in the 34th minute when Mane rose to meet a Joao Felix corner, powering a header past the goalkeeper.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>They extended their lead in the 52nd minute when Coman weaved past the defence before unleashing a fierce left-footed strike from outside the area into the bottom corner.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Damac were handed a lifeline when Morlaye Sylla converted a penalty in the 58th minute, but any hopes of a comeback were quickly extinguished.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Ronaldo restored the two-goal cushion five minutes later, curling a sublime free kick into the net to make it 3-1.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Portuguese great put the result beyond doubt in the 81st minute.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>He pounced on a loose ball after the Damac defence failed to clear a cross, smashing a powerful shot into the top corner.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34900,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-35167","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The Portuguese great put the result beyond doubt in the 81st minute.","published_date":"","news_description":"The Portuguese great put the result beyond doubt in the 81st minute.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35169,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35167\/revisions\/35169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}