Al Nassr thrash Abha as Cristiano Ronaldo nets hat trick

Cristiano Ronaldo netted a first-half hat trick in Al Nassr's runaway 8-0 win over Abha in the Saudi Pro League on Tuesday, three days after scoring a triple on Saturday in a win over Al Tai.

Sadio Mané, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem, Abdulrahman Ghareeb and a double from Abdulaziz Saud Al Aliwa rounded out the scoring for Al Nassr as they cruised to an easy win over the club second from bottom in the Pro League table.

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Ronaldo's first two goals Tuesday came from free-kicks. With 11 minutes on the clock, he opened the scoring with a low shot from a central position just outside the area. The second came 10 minutes later when he curled the ball around the wall from the left side.

Ronaldo, who leads the SPL with 29 goals, then assisted Sadio Mané for Al-Nassr's third just after the half-hour, pulling the ball back from the left for the former Liverpool forward to score.

Three minutes before the break, Ronaldo then completed the hat trick with a beautiful chip from outside the area as he ran toward goal. There was still enough time in the first-half for Ronaldo to slip the ball to his right for Al-Sulayhim to score into an open goal from close range.

It was the seventh time that Ronaldo netted a first-half hat trick and takes his career total to 65, including 44 during his trophy-laden time with Real Madrid. The Portugal star has scored three or more goals in a game five times since joining Al Nassr.

Despite the stellar night for Ronaldo, Al Nassr are 12 points behind leaders Al Hilal with eight games to play and are out of the Asian Champions League and domestic cup in Saudi Arabia, meaning it will likely be another season with no silverware for the 39-year-old since moving to the Middle East.

Al Hilal announced earlier in the day that striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, second behind Ronaldo with 22 goals, is likely to miss the rest of the season through injury.