Cristiano Ronaldo made the most of both awful defending and a plume of smoke to set Al-Nasr on the way to victory against Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.<br /><br />With just four minutes on the clock, Ronaldo gave his side the perfect start against an Al-Ahli side that included Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez and Allan Saint-Maximin. <br /><br />The Portuguese forward collected a Sadio Mane pass before capitalizing on some poor defending and slotting past the goalkeeper through a plume of smoke following some pre-game pyrotechnics. <br /><br />Ronaldo celebrated in trademark style after notching his seventh goal of the season, and he later found the net again to secure the win for his side.<br /><br />Former Benfica midfielder Anderson Talisca bagged himself a brace on either side of ex-AC Milan man Frank Kessie pulling a goal back for Al-Ahli in the first half.<br /><br />Riyad Mahrez then scored his second goal for Al-Ahli since joining from Manchester City, slotting home an early second-half penalty.<br /><br />Ronaldo snuffed out any hope of a comeback just two minutes later when he notched his second goal of the evening from a Talisca assist.<br /><br />Firas Al Buraikan pulled a late goal back for Al-Ahli but it was not enough to deny Al-Nasr and Ronaldo the victory.<br /><br />The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star now has eight goals in just five appearances, helping Al-Nasr to a four-game winning run that has brought them back into title contention. <br /><br />They now sit just three points behind Nuno Espirito Santo's league-leading Al-Ittihad side.<br /><br />Al-Ittihad took the top spot on Friday from Neymar's Al-Hilal after beating Al-Fateh 2-1 thanks to a goal and an assist from N'Golo Kante.<br /><br />Neither Neymar nor Aleksandar Mitrovic were able to find the net for the former league leaders, as they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Damac, who are yet to pick up a win this season.<br /><br />There was a victory for Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq, as they beat Al Tai 4-3. Former Celtic striker Mousa Dembele helped himself to a brace, with Georginio Wijnaldum also notching two goals. <br /><br />Gerrard's side, who are captained by former Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson, sit fourth in the early league table - one point ahead of Ronaldo and Al-Nasr.
