Cristiano Ronaldo may be gunning for the Golden Boot, but a classy gesture suggested he’s a team-first man after all.
Ronaldo started up top alongside Sadio Mane for Al Nassr as they ran out 2-0 winners over Al Wehda in the Saudi Pro League.
It was the Portuguese superstar who opened the scoring in the 48th minute.
Angelo Gabriel, who was brought on at half time, whipped in an inviting cross from the right flank.
Ronaldo was untracked by the Al Wehda back line as he sprinted into the box and deftly flicked his header past Al Wehda goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Owaishir, who was rooted to the spot.
The 40-year-old’s goal took his Saudi Pro League season tally to 17, one more than former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema in the race for the Golden Boot.
It was also Ronaldo’s 925th career goal as he inches ever closer to reaching the iconic milestone of 1,000 goals.
Ronaldo had a brilliant opportunity to put further distance between he and Al Ittihad’s Benzema when Al Nassr were awarded a penalty in the tenth minute of second-half stoppage time.
As Al Nassr’s designated penalty taker, just about everyone expected to see Ronaldo line up a shot from the spot.
Despite the pressure of the Golden Boot race, Ronaldo opted to give the spot kick opportunity to Mane.
In a clip on social media, it seemed some of the Al Nassr supporters weren’t happy with Ronaldo giving Mane the chance to score as they began whistling.
However, Ronaldo was seen telling them to quieten down before he made a clapping gesture and pointed towards Mane, encouraging his fans to get behind the Senegalese forward.
Going into the contest, Mane had endured an nine-game goal drought across all competitions.
Despite his lack of form in front of goal, the former Liverpool star made no mistake with his effort as he sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to double Al Nassr’s advantage.
Ronaldo’s unselfishness won plenty of plaudits on social media.
One fan wrote on X: “What a leader.”
Another said: “GOAT mentality.”
Mane’s goal against Al Wehda took his league tally to six and his season tally to eight.
Al Nassr’s win was their 14th in the league this term and leaves them third on 47 points.
However, they remain four points behind second-placed Al Hilal and equal on points with fourth-placed Al Qadisiyah.