SAUDI ARABIA: Ronaldo nets hat-trick as Otávio makes Al Nassr debut [video] | OneFootball

Al Fateh 0-5 Al Nassr

Otávio made his debut for Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr on Friday evening, but it was Cristiano Ronaldo who stole the show with a hat-trick to help Luis Castro’s men to a resounding first win of the league campaign.

Portugal international Otávio completed his move to the Middle East on Thursday, signing from FC Porto after his €60m release clause was activated. The 28-year-old went straight into Luis Castro’s side for the trip to Al Fateh the following evening, and impressed in midfield as Ronaldo ran riot to give the visitors a much-needed victory.

Sadio Mane opened the scoring on 27 minutes with a neat finish, following a deft touch from Ronaldo to release the Senegalese international. Ronaldo then doubled Al Nassr’s lead with a routine header to send the visitors into the half-time break two goals ahead, after which he netted his second with a simple conversion thanks to good work from Abdulrahman Ghareeb.

Mane added his second and the star strikeforce looked to have evenly shared the goalscoring load as the final minutes of added time approached. However, Ronaldo completed his treble from close-range having been picked out by Nawaf Boushal’s pull-back in the 96th minute, much to the Portugal captain’s delight.

Portuguese boss Castro had been under pressure to deliver a positive result after losing his first two Pro League matches this season. Champions Al-Ittihad, led by Nuno Espírito Santo, top the league with a 100% record after three matches, having thrashed Al Riyadh 4-0 away from home on Thursday.