CRISTIANO RONALDO turned down Al-Nassr’s last-gasp penalty on Saturday in order to let team-mate Anderson Talisca take it instead.
The Saudi title-chasers were level at 1-1 with Abha going into the last five minutes.
When they won an 86th minute penalty, it appeared almost certain that Ronaldo would step up to fire Al-Nassr to victory.
But the 38-year-old surprisingly gave the responsibility to Anderson Talisca instead.
And when the Brazilian slotted home from the spot, Ronaldo was the first man to gleefully run over to celebrate with him.
Fans claim that the former Manchester United forward allowed Talisca to take the penalty to aid his bid for the Golden Boot.
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One wrote: “Talisca is running for golden boot currently was second top goal scorer until Captain Ronaldo decided to let him take the penalty to take the first spot again. That’s my captain.”
A second tweeted: “Cristiano Ronaldo just let Talisca take a crucial penalty to complete the comeback for Al Nassr, Talisca is now only 1 goal behind the league top scorer.
“But I’m supposed to believe Ronaldo is selfish and only cares about himself…”
A third gushed: “That was my most beautiful highlight from the match, it really shows how much cr7 cares about his team mates.”
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The 29-year-old’s strike was his 14th in 15 matches this season.
He sits second in the current Golden Boot standings, only trailing Al-Ittihad’s Abderrazak Hamdallah, who has 15.
Al-Nassr had fallen 1-0 behind earlier in the match via Abdulfattah Adam Ahmad Mohammed’s 26th minute opener.
Ronaldo conjured a brilliant equaliser on 78 minutes, scoring his first free-kick in THREE YEARS to make it 1-1.
Abha were reduced to ten men on 80 minutes, before Talisca’s dramatic winner from the spot.
Al-Nassr trail leaders Al-Ittihad by one point in the Saudi Pro League title race.
Al-Ittihad, managed by former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo, won 5-1 at Al Fateh yesterday.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
