Cristiano Ronaldo may turn 39 in February, but the Portuguese legend shows no signs of slowing down in front of goal.
On Boxing Day, Ronaldo found the net twice again for Al-Nassr in their 5-2 win at At Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League. Ronaldo thus took his goal total to 53 for the calendar year 2023. This means that he is the top scorer in top-level football in the world this year, ahead of Harry Kane (52), Kylian Mbappé (52) and Erling Haaland (50).
Furthermore, ahead of Man Utd’s Premier League match against Aston Villa later on Boxing Day, Ronaldo had actually overtaken his former team in the league this season. Ronaldo has scored 19 goals in 17 matches this season in the Saudi Pro League. Prior to the Villa game, the entire Man Utd team had scored 18 goals in 18 Premier League matches, making them the penultimate least prolific team in the division.
United took a small step towards rectifying that situation by coming back from 2-0 down at half-time to beat Villa 3-2 on Tuesday night. But the fact that Ronaldo was the top scorer for the entire Man Utd team until the Villa game shows where Cristiano and his former team stand at the moment. United’s current number 9, Rasmus Hojlund, only scored his first Premier League goal of the season in the win against Villa. As for Antony, recruited at a high price, he has still not scored or provided an assist this season.
