Riyadh: Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 981st career goal as Al-Nassr defeated Uzbekistan’s Neftchi Fergana 3-1 in the AFC Champions League Elite on October 12, following an hour-long delay caused by a security alert in Riyadh.

The match at Al-Awwal Park was postponed after Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence issued a safety warning shortly before kick-off amid reports of missile threats targeting the Saudi capital. A Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed missiles launched towards Riyadh. The fixture proceeded after authorities assessed the situation.

Al-Nassr opened the scoring through Angelo Gabriel in the 33rd minute. Ronaldo doubled the advantage nine minutes later, finishing a move involving Sadio Mané and Aiman Yahya to take his career tally to 981 goals for club and country.

The 41-year-old Portuguese captain is now 19 goals away from the landmark of 1,000 career goals.

Neftchi responded early in the second half, with Alisher Odilov reducing the deficit in the 51st minute. However, the visitors’ comeback hopes suffered a setback when Ikromjon Alibaev was sent off in the 65th minute for a foul on Mohamed Simakan.

Al-Nassr sealed the victory in the 78th minute when Neftchi’s Anvarjon Gofurov scored an own goal.

The result gave Al-Nassr their first points in the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Elite campaign after a 4-0 defeat to Al-Ain in their opening fixture.

Despite the unusual circumstances surrounding kick-off, Ronaldo and his teammates secured a crucial victory to revive their continental campaign.