Ronaldo surpassed Holland-Mbappe in goals

 Ronaldo surpassed Holland-Mbappe in goals

Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr taking a penalty during the Saudi Pro League match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on December 26, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia(Image-Getty)

The thing is, the one who excels in performance is the best. But sometimes there are some messages hidden in those performances, which can be read to understand the extent of the best. For example, the 38-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, who was in the best form at the age of 23 and 25, could not even be caught by two young guys!

At the age of 38, the two youngsters who can ace Kylian Mbappe and Arling Holland in the highest goal statistics, will he be bracketed only in the circle of 'the best', or what true legends are like, understand from the 'message' of Ronaldo's goal. Go!

Ronaldo scored two goals in Al Nasr's 5-2 win at Al Ittihad Stadium last night in the Saudi Pro League. Both goals were from penalties. With the second goal in the 68th minute, Ronaldo became the top scorer in 2023, surpassing the three best players of the time - Harry Kane, Mbappe and Holland.

The Portuguese legend scored a total of 53 goals. His club Al Nasr wrote in a post on social media Xe (Twitter), "Al Nasr captain Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 53rd goal against the Etihad today (last night) to become the world's top scorer in 2023." He overtook Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane, who scored 52 goals each. Al Nasr probably did not name City star Arling Holland because he could not be in the top three. Holland's goal score is 50.

The match at the Etihad was also a reunion for Ronaldo. Like him, Karim Benzema, his former teammate in Real Madrid, left Europe and joined this club. The two also exchanged kisses in the stadium tunnel before the start of the match.

They hugged each other. Benzema then helped Ronaldo to score! Listen to the whole thing before frowning. Benzema fouled Al Lazami of Al Nasr in the Ittihad box in the 19th minute, Nasr got a penalty and Ronaldo had no difficulty in scoring from there.

The subsequent penalty came as a result of a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decision. Before Ronaldo scored from there, however, the responsibility of this penalty was the Etihad's Brazilian star Fabinho. Fabinho left the field after seeing a second yellow card for fouling Al Nasr's Otavio. Sadio Mane also scored twice for Al Nasr.

Football statistics-related 'X' account 'Sofasco Brazil' reported that Ronaldo scored 53 goals in 58 matches in 2023. Apart from this, he made 15 goals. In total, he contributed directly or indirectly to 68 goals. Scored one goal every 75 minutes. Al Nasr has one more match left this year. In other words, Ronaldo has a chance to increase his goals. But Harry Kane's team Bayern Munich or Mbappe's team PSG have no matches this year. City have two more games in hand in the Premier League this year. But the good news for Ronaldo is that Holland is out of action due to injury.