Ronaldo's hat-trick leaves him 15 goals short of 1,000 career goals
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a Saudi Arabian league match and now has 985 career goals. He needs 15 more to reach an official 1,000.
Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo continues his pursuit of a record of 1,000 career goals. Playing in the Saudi Arabian championship for the club Al-Nassr, he scored a hat-trick, meaning three goals in a single match, against Al-Holuda. The performance brings his career total to 985 goals, leaving 15 to go until the official mark of one thousand.
How the match unfolded
In the first half, Ronaldo put the ball in the net twice, but neither goal counted because he was ruled offside. His first-half efforts therefore did not appear on the scoresheet.
The second half went differently. With the score level at 2:2, Ronaldo scored three goals within 15 minutes. Those goals helped Al-Nassr to a 5:3 win.
The road to 1,000
After this victory, Ronaldo's career tally stands at 985 goals. According to the report, he officially needs 15 more to reach one thousand. The two disallowed first-half goals are not included in that total.
The information comes from the Russian-language news programme Aktuaalne Kaamera, broadcast by Estonia's public broadcaster ERR. The source does not say exactly when the match took place or in which round of the league season.
