Thursday night was a frustrating one for Cristiano Ronaldo as he saw Al-Nassr held to a 1-1 draw by Al-Raed in the opening game of the 2024-25 Saudi Pro League season.

Luis Castro’s Al-Nassr were runners-up in the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League (SPL) and had high hopes of winning silverware this season. However, things got off to a bad start last week when they were thrashed 4-1 by rivals Al-Hilal in the Saudi Arabian Super Cup final, despite Ronaldo opening the scoring before the SPL champions scored four second-half goals.

On Thursday, Al-Nassr kicked off their league campaign with a home game against Al-Raed, who finished 12th in the SPL last season, 45 points behind Ronaldo and co.

Alongside Ronaldo, Castro’s side featured his usual stellar line-up, including the likes of Sadio Mané, Alex Telles, Otávio, Marcelo Brozovic and Euro 2024 winner Aymeric Laporte.

Air Ronaldo still going strong

(via @SPL) pic.twitter.com/aNw9tc6jcF

— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 22, 2024

They started brightly, with Ronaldo putting the hosts ahead with a spectacular header, which the 39-year-old Portuguese star rose high and finished with precision from Sadio Mane’s cross. It was Ronaldo’s third goal in three games this season, having also scored in Al-Nassr’s 2-0 win over Al-Taawon in the Saudi Arabian Super Cup semi-final.

Ronaldo celebrated his stunning goal with his famous “SIU” celebration and looked extremely motivated after putting his team ahead. However, despite dominating the game with 70% possession and taking 31 shots, Al-Nassr were unable to find a second goal.

Disaster struck when Mohammed Fouzair equalised for Al-Raed with a penalty early in the second half, leaving Ronaldo furious. His frustration was only compounded when he had a goal ruled out for offside, with VAR confirming he had been ahead by the narrowest of margins.

Al-Nassr even had a penalty appeal for handball denied in second-half injury time, even after the referee reviewed the incident on the pitchside monitor, and Al-Raed managed to hold on for a memorable draw.

Ronaldo’s frustration also comes after he left the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium last week without collecting his silverware following Al-Nassr’s 4-1 defeat to Al-Hilal. The 39-year-old was vocal in his anger throughout the game, gesturing furiously at several of his team-mates as four second-half goals were scored.

Despite the ongoing frustrations, Ronaldo’s first-half strike on Thursday means he has now scored 60 goals in 66 appearances for Al-Nassr, as well as winning the SPL Golden Boot last season with 35 goals.

A solid start to the campaign is particularly important for Ronaldo given he failed to score at Euro 2024 and struggled as Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France.