Cristiano Ronaldo scores as Al Nassr finally lifts the Saudi Pro League title after years of drama
Al-Awwal Park Stadium, Riyadh. Friday, 22 May 2026. Full-time.
Image Credit: Leonardo AI
Al Nassr, the reigning Saudi Pro League champions, put on the kind of performance their title demands at Al-Awwal Park on Friday night. Two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, one from Sadio Mane, and one from Kingsley Coman delivered a 4-1 win over Damac that was, for most of its 90 minutes, entirely comfortable. Jorge Jesus's side showed exactly why they hold the Saudi Pro League title: depth, discipline, and individual quality when it mattered.
Jorge Jesus set his side up to suffocate Damac from the first whistle, and for the first half, that is exactly what happened. Joao Felix worked as the creative engine between the lines, and his assist in the 33rd minute opened the scoring in this Al Nassr vs Damac Saudi Pro League encounter.
Mane collected the pass and finished cleanly. One-nil at the break. Al Nassr looked calm, organised, and unhurried. There was no need to be anything else.
The second half Al Nassr had planned, and the one they did not
Kingsley Coman doubled the lead six minutes after the restart, and it looked like the Al Nassr vs Damac match result was settled. Then the 56th minute produced the one moment Damac could genuinely be proud of: a VAR review awarded them a penalty, which Morlaye Sylla converted to make it 2-1.
That Damac goal lasted less than 60 seconds in the public imagination. Ronaldo answered almost immediately, scoring in the 62nd minute to restore the two-goal cushion. His second came in the 80th, by which point Jesus was already rotating his squad. The Cristiano Ronaldo Al Nassr goal tally for the night: two. The Damac defense had no answer.
Ronaldo scored twice, received a yellow card in between, and still left the pitch before full time. That is the kind of evening only Al Nassr's star forward can produce.
Match timeline: Al Nassr vs Damac, 22 May 2026
Sadio Mane opens the scoring. Joao Felix with the assist. Mane's strike gives Al Nassr an early Saudi Pro League match advantage.
Kingsley Coman extends the lead two minutes into the second half. Coman's Saudi Pro League goal puts the champions firmly in control.
Cristiano Ronaldo is booked by referee Khalid Saleh Alturais at Al-Awwal Park Stadium.
Referee reviews a foul inside the box. Penalty awarded to Damac after VAR review.
Morlaye Sylla scores from the spot. Damac pulls one back to make it 2-1.
Cristiano Ronaldo restores the two-goal cushion. Ronaldo's first goal of the Al Nassr vs Damac match puts Jorge Jesus's side back in command.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores his second and Al Nassr's fourth. The Saudi Pro League champions seal a dominant Al-Awwal Park victory.
Ronaldo and Mane are replaced by Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Abdulrahman Ghareeb. Angelo Gabriel also comes on for Ayman Yahya. Jesus manages his squad with one eye on the next fixture.
What the Al Nassr vs Damac result means for the Saudi Pro League table
Al Nassr enters this final stretch of the season as the reigning Saudi Pro League champions, and a 4-1 home win over Damac FC in Riyadh only tightens their grip. The squad has depth. Jesus rotated heavily before the 90th minute, bringing on Angelo Gabriel and Al-Hamdan without any visible drop in defensive shape. That kind of squad management is what separates a Saudi Pro League title-winning side from the rest of the field.
Joao Felix is finding his rhythm in the Saudi Pro League. His assist for Mane's opener was precise and unselfish, threading the ball into a tight corridor at exactly the right weight. When Felix and Ronaldo are both operating at that level in the Al Nassr starting lineup, Damac had no credible answer.
Damac's first half was largely passive. Two yellow cards in the 24th and 25th minutes for Hawsawi and Al-Anazi told the story of a side scrambling to disrupt a team that was simply moving the ball faster than they could track it. The Al-Nassr attack, with Ronaldo, Mane, Coman, and Felix all on the pitch together, poses a serious problem for any Saudi Pro League opponent.
The penalty they earned through VAR in the 56th minute was their clearest moment of quality. Sylla converted well. It made the Al Nassr vs Damac scoreline briefly interesting. Then Ronaldo scored again, and the conversation ended.
Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Awwal Park: two goals, one yellow card, full control
There is a particular kind of confidence Ronaldo carries in front of the Al-Awwal Park crowd, and Friday night had it in every step. He received a yellow card in the 53rd minute, which would have disrupted most forwards. Nine minutes later, he scored. Seventeen minutes after that, he scored again.
He was substituted off in the 86th minute, walking off to applause, having done exactly what the Saudi Pro League champions need him to do: score twice, demand the ball constantly, and leave the pitch ahead of schedule so Jesus can protect him for what comes next. The Cristiano Ronaldo Saudi Pro League goal record continues to grow.
If you have been following Al Nassr this season, you already know the rhythm. And if you are watching for the first time, Friday told you everything you need to know about why they hold the Saudi Pro League title.
USA beam take: Al Nassr on a global stage
For supporters watching from the United States, Friday's result is another data point in a question American soccer fans are increasingly asking: how good is the Saudi Pro League, really?
Al Nassr's starting lineup reads like a Champions League squad. Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Kingsley Coman, and Joao Felix are on the same team, in the same match, all contributing to the scoresheet or assist column. If this were an MLS or CONCACAF fixture, it would be a top-of-the-page story.
The Saudi Pro League has invested heavily since 2023, and Al-Nassr are its standard-bearers. For American viewers who track Ronaldo's career across every league he has played in, from the English Premier League to La Liga to Serie A, Friday's performance at Al-Awwal Park fits the pattern: he scores, the team wins, the margin is wide. The Saudi Pro League may not have the broadcast reach of European football in the US market yet, but performances like this make the case for attention.
Al Nassr 4-1 Damac. Ronaldo scored two. Coman scored one. Mane scored one. The Saudi Pro League champions did what champions do at home: they played with control, absorbed the one moment of pressure, and pulled further clear before the final whistle. At Al-Awwal Park on a Friday night in May, the title holders looked every bit like the team that earned that title.
Congratulations, Al Nassr
Saudi Pro League champions. Winners of the most competitive season this league has seen. A squad built to win, and a night at Al-Awwal Park that proved it all over again.
From every Al Nassr supporter around the world, including the growing fan base watching from the United States and beyond: well done to Jorge Jesus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, and the full Al Nassr squad. The Saudi Pro League title belongs to Riyadh.
