"Penaldo strikes again", "Rigged league" - Twitter explodes as a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty helps Al-Nassr defeat Al-Ta'ee in SPL fixture

Fans reacted on X (formerly Twitter) after Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late penalty to help Al-Nassr defeat Al-Ta'ee 2-1 in their Saudi Pro League clash on Friday (September 29).

The Knights of Najd started on the front foot with Victor Braga making a fine save to deny Ronaldo in the ninth minute. The Portugal ace had a golden opportunity to score four minutes later but was once again denied by Braga.

Anderson Talisca broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute for Al-Nassr with Cristiano Ronaldo getting a valuable assist. The latter had yet another opportunity to score in the 36th minute but failed to find the back of the net.

Ronaldo hit the post in the 73rd minute before Virgil Misidjan sensationally equalized for Al-Ta'ee in the 79th minute. Just when it seemed like Al-Nassr would drop points again, they got a penalty in the 84th minute due to a handball inside the box.

Cristiano Ronaldo was able to send Braga the wrong way in the 87th minute, sealing an important 2-1 win for the away side. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner had a Man of the Match performance, registering one goal and one assist.

Despite missing four big chances from 11 shots, the 38-year-old also had a pass accuracy of 91% and a long ball accuracy of 100%.

Fans reacted on X with some claiming the Saudi Pro League was rigged for Ronaldo:

"Rigged League"

Another fan wrote:

"Penaldo strikes again"

However, there were some positive reactions as well:

Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 10 goals and provided six assists in nine appearances across all competitions this season, becoming the fastest SPL player to reach 10 goals.

Al-Alami are now third in the league with 18 points from eight games, one point behind league leaders Al-Ittihad.

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Al-Ta'ee vs Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr: Exploring the stats from Saudi Pro League clash

Cristiano Ronaldo proved to be the hero once again as Al-Nassr secured a 2-1 win against Al Ta'ee away from home in their SPL clash on Friday. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.

Al-Nassr dominated possession, controlling 58% of the ball. They completed 513 passes with an accuracy of 88%. In contrast, Al-Ta'ee had 42% of the ball and registered 360 passes with an accuracy of 86%.

Luis Castro's men looked more threatening in attack as well, landing a total of 19 shots with six being on target. On the other hand, the home team had 11 shots in total, with six being on target.