SOCCER
How many penalties has Cristiano Ronaldo scored in his career?
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Al Nassr from the penalty spot in a 2-2 draw against Al Fateh.
It’s happened. Cristiano Ronaldo is finally off the mark for new club Al Nassr, scoring a late equaliser against Al Fateh. It’s taken the legendary Portuguese attacker three whole matches to bag his first goal for the Saudi Pro League side, with his record of zero in his first two games almost classified as a goal drought given how prolific he’s been over the last 15 years or so.
He did, of course, find the net twice in an exhibition game against Paris Saint-Germain a couple of weeks ago, so he hadn’t completely forgotten where the goal is.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s first Al Nassr goal
The former Real Madrid star has his first Al Nassr goal but he very nearly ran out of time to get it in Friday’s clash. It looked as if it wasn’t going to be Ronaldo’s day as he was – correctly – denied a goal by an offside flag in the first half and missed a great chance to score from close range. But his maiden strike did eventually arrive in the second of seven minutes of injury time, with the Portugal captain converting a penalty after teammate Jaloliddin Masharipov had been fouled in the box.
Rudi Garcia’s men had trailed twice, with Cristián Tello, a familiar name for Barcelona and Spanish soccer fans, putting Al Fateh ahead before ex-Benfica midfielder Anderson Talisca levelled just before half time. Al Nassr conceded again after the break and looked set to be heading for a defeat until the late penalty, Ronaldo’s goal moved the club back to the top of the Saudi Pro League ahead on Al Shabab on goal diference but they have now played a game more than their title rivals and Al Hilal, who sit three points worse off.
How many penalties has Ronaldo scored and what is his conversion rate?
As the lovely Sofascore graphic above shows, Ronaldo’s goal was the 147th time he has scored an in-game penalty in his career, at both club and international level. The Portuguese has taken 176, which means he has missed on 29 occasions and has a conversation rate of 83.5%. The ex-Manchester United man is well out in front when it comes to players scoring penalties in the 21st century, with second-placed Lionel Messi on 108.
What percentage of Ronaldo’s career goals have been penalties?
Ronaldo’s 147 goals from the spot account for 17.93% of his 820 career goals. In 2020, while playing for Juventus, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner netted 17 penalties (out of 20) in all competitions, a tally which many strikers would be delighted to reach in total in a single year or season!