Briefly
Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table. The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mane cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
Joao Felix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play.
Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d’Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
Another spying controversy hits English soccer
England’s second-tier Championship has been hit with another spying controversy.
Southampton has been contacted by the English Football League following a complaint by Middlesbrough “relating to alleged unauthorized filming” ahead of the teams’ meeting in the Championship playoffs, the EFL said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
“The alleged incident is said to have taken place on Middlesbrough’s private property by an individual identified to be associated with Southampton,” the statement continued.
The EFL said it was treating this matter as “potential misconduct” and has requested Southampton’s observations.
The first leg of their playoff semifinal is on Saturday, at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium. The second leg is on Tuesday in Southampton.
In 2019, the EFL fined Leeds 200,000 pounds ($259,000) for spying on one of Derby’s training sessions ahead of a game between the teams.
Marcelo Bielsa, who was manager of Leeds at the time, accepted responsibility for having a club employee spy on Derby’s practice. In a detailed, hour-long news conference, Bielsa later admitted to having watched at least one of each of his opponents’ training sessions.
In handing out the fine, the EFL said Leeds’ conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected by the EFL and must not be repeated.”
