Cristiano Ronaldo scores 979th goal, named MOTM as Al Nassr bounce back with win

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 979th career goal to pave the way for Al Nassr's 2-1 win against Abha Club on Wednesday.

The veteran forward headed the opener midway through the first half to move closer to the 1,000 goal milestone before teammate Abdullah Al-Hamdan struck Al Nassr's second before the hour.

Ronaldo, who played the entire game, was named man of the match for the second time this season.

"Hard work pays off," Ronaldo, 41, wrote on Instagram after the game.

Al Nassr coach Ange Postecoglou was pleased his team bounced back from Saturday's 2-1 league loss at Al Ittihad, their first defeat of the season.

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"I think Al Hamdan and Cristiano had a good game today, and it was a good choice for us," he said. "We've won six of our last seven matches, and I think we've proven ourselves. We've faced many of the challenges we've had to deal with this season, and we even suffered injuries around the 80th minute, so credit to the players."

The win allowed the defending Saudi defending champions to join Al Hilal and Al Qadsiah on 15 points at the top of the standings.