Ronaldo admits his 'heart raced' after scoring the decisive goal

Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo once again played the hero by netting a stoppage-time goal, securing a thrilling victory for Al Nassr against Al Fayha in the Saudi Arabia 2025/26 league. After the match, he confessed that the moment made his heart "beat unusually fast."

In a challenging match, the Portuguese star was the one who equalized for Al Nassr at 1-1 in the 37th minute. As the game approached its final moments, he calmly converted a penalty, earning three valuable points for coach Jorge Jesus’s team. With seven consecutive wins, Ronaldo and his teammates maintain the top spot with 21 points, three points ahead of second-placed Al Taawon.

Thus, Ronaldo has scored 8 goals in this Saudi Pro League season, including 5 goals in his last 5 appearances for Al Nassr. The Portuguese superstar is now just 48 goals away from reaching the milestone of 1,000 career goals.

Speaking to Thmanyah Sports after the game, Ronaldo admitted that this high-pressure moment gave him special emotions, despite having over 20 years of professional experience. He said: "Today, my heart was beating a little faster than usual. But this is football, this is my life. I have lived with this for 22 years, so I am very happy."

At 40 years old, Ronaldo is still demonstrating impressive scoring form. However, he emphasized that his biggest goal is the team’s success, especially winning his first national championship with Al Nassr. The former Manchester United player stressed: "The most important thing is that we won, the whole team reached the pinnacle of glory. Individual awards don’t matter; what I want is to win the league".

On social media, some questioned the referee’s decision to award Al Nassr a penalty for what was called a handball by Mikel Villanueva during an aerial challenge. Slow-motion video showed the ball only touched the head of the visiting team’s number 17. Many fans were puzzled why the penalty was given since no foul seemed to have occurred in that play.

Despite protests from Al Fayha players, the referee upheld the decision. Immediately after the match, Al Fayha’s coach Pedro Emanuel expressed his anger: “There’s no need to play 34 matches this season if the league is already arranged to favor Ronaldo and Al Nassr. What happened today is not good for the development of the Saudi Pro League.”