On a big weekend for Manchester United, two former players were busy scoring goals for their sides in Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted three times for Al Nassr as he scored a first half hat-trick as they beat Damac 3-0 on Saturday.
It’s feels like a sad situation for Ronaldo, who began this season in Manchester United’s team. While his teammates won the Carabao Cup at Wembley, he was attending a boxing event in Saudi Arabia, and did not offer any public congratulations for the Red Devils.
Ronaldo did not play a single minute of the club’s Carabao Cup campaign, and the club’s success without him shows he was not needed.
- READ: Five things we learned as Manchester United win the Carabao Cup
Odion Ighalo scores four
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored eight goals in six games for Al Nassr. But at the weekend, his hat-trick was out performed by another former Manchester United striker.
Former Red Devils loanee Odion Ighalo struck four goals in one game as Al Hilal beat Qatari side Al Duhail 7-0 in the Asian Champions League.
Ighalo netted two in each half, with former Porto striker Moussa Marega scoring twice, and Saudi World Cup hero Salem Al Dawsari also on target.
His first goal came just 90 seconds into the match, and his performance has booked Al Hilal a place in the Asian Champions League final, to be played against Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds over two legs in April and May.
Ighalo only scored five goals in his entire Manchester United loan spell, so scoring four times in a game is great going for the Nigerian.
The 33-year-old’s stunning performance also helps put Ronaldo’s goalscoring feats in Saudi Arabia into context.
Ighalo has now scored 13 goals in 17 games for Al Hilal this season. He signed for Manchester United on loan in 2020, which was later extended into January 2021.
Ronaldo’s Al Nassr currently sit top of the Saudi Pro League with 42 points.
Ighalo’s Al Hilal are in fourth with three games in hand. If they win them, they can cut the gap to just two points.
Having already upstaged Ronaldo at the weekend, Ighalo will be bidding to deny him the league title, with the season just passing the halfway point.
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