Ronaldo comments on victory over "Neftchi" and his 981st goal

13 October 2026, 07:05·67·Sport

The captain of Saudi Arabia's "Al-Nassr" club and world football legend Cristiano Ronaldo reacted on his official social media pages to the victory (3:1) over the champion of Uzbekistan, "Neftchi" from Fergana, in the 2nd round of the AFC Champions League Elite.

The 41-year-old goalscorer, who added another goal to his name in the match, revealed how important this encounter was for his team.

Ronaldo's statement: "We continue to evolve"

After the end of the match, the Portuguese forward evaluated his team's performance on his X (formerly Twitter) page:

"Last night's victory was very important. We continue to evolve", — wrote Ronaldo.

This victory earned "Al-Nassr" their first 3 points in the tournament's league stage and lifted the team to 8th place in the West Region standings.

The clash at "Al-Awwal Park" in Riyadh was rich in intense moments:

33rd minute: Brazilian Angelo Gabriel opened the scoring for "Al-Nassr";
Record in the 42nd minute: Cristiano Ronaldo hit the net of the team from Fergana to make it 2:0 — this was the star striker's 981st goal in his official career, further updating his own world record;
"Neftchi's" response: In the 51st minute, Alisher Odilov narrowed the gap with a fine strike, reviving the intrigue;
Own goal sets the seal: In the 78th minute, an unexpected own goal by Anvarjon Gafurov finally decided the fate of the match (3:1).

Preparing for the next matches of the tournament, the Saudi club will continue its campaign on the international stage in the coming days:

Next opponent: In the 3rd round on October 26, "Al-Nassr" will host UAE's "Al-Wasl" at home;
Cristiano's goal: The Portuguese star continues to approach the historic 1000-goal milestone.