The reunion between Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time on the pitch since 2018 resulted in a game rich in goals. And this meeting between Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr on behalf of the 17th day of the Saudi Pro League finally turned to the advantage of the visitors (5-2). Double scorer from the penalty spot (19th, 68th), the Portuguese once again guided his team and took care of his stats, he who is now at 53 goals in 2023, an absolute record for the calendar year. Harry Kane, Kylian Mbappé (52) and Erling Haaland (50), injured since December 7, are definitely in the rearview mirror.
With 19 goals in 17 Championship matches, the 38-year-old striker is still shining and exceeds “the mark of 50” achievements for the 8th time in his career. Offensively, the trio he formed with Anderson Talisca, solo scorer after a good sequence, (38th) and Sadio Mané (76th, 82nd), ideally placed on each counter-attack, punished a particularly crumbly rearguard.
Mute offensively, Benzema concedes a penalty
Marcelo Gallardo’s team was dominated in the game then left behind on the scoreboard after the red card received by Fabinho for a bad move on Otavio in his own area (67th). Against his former club (2018-2022), Moroccan striker Abderrazak Hamed-Allah (14th, 52nd) tried everything, in vain.
Remembering his long and fruitful collaboration with Ronaldo, the Frenchman, clumsy offensively, distinguished himself by delivering “a decisive pass” to his former friend by clumsily conceding the equalizing penalty shortly after the quarter of an hour of play His 48th offering for the Portuguese in his career.
