Cristiano Ronaldo has suffered another setback after he was upstaged by a former Manchester United striker.
It says a lot about Manchester United’s confused transfer strategy up front in recent seasons that the club so quickly upgraded from Odion Ighalo to Cristiano Ronaldo, with Edinson Cavani in between.
While Wout Weghorst is the latest short-term option to lead the line at Old Trafford, Ronaldo and Ighalo are plying their trades in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo is still settling into life at Al Nassr. Just this past week his manager Rudi Garcia was fired.
Ighalo upstages Ronaldo
Odion Ighalo’s Al Hilal took on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr last night and won the game 2-0.
It was Ighalo who took centre stage, scoring both goals in the win. Ronaldo endured a frustrating night. He was booked after taking down an opponent with a WWE style move.
It should be pointed out both of Ighalo’s goal were penalties, and Al Hilal’s side still sit four points behind Ronaldo’s Al Nassr.
But this was still a memorable night for Ighalo, who has now scored 20 goals in 27 games this season for his club. He looks at home and settled in Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo will reflect on a damaging night. FotMob awarded his performance just a 6.4/10, with Ighalo’s graded as a 9.0.
The Portuguese star’s side rank second in the Saudi Pro League, three points behind leaders Al Ittihad, now having played one game more.
It was a big call for Ronaldo to seek a departure away from Manchester United, and he took a gamble for his reputation by joining Al Nassr. It would be a big disappointment for him if he failed to win the title there.
He has struck 11 goals in 11 league games, but has none in his last two. And when Ronaldo doesn’t score, he’s not happy.
Being upstaged by Ighalo will only have made him more miserable.
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