Cristiano Ronaldo blushes in Saudi Arabia following Tottenham flop which disappointed Pochettino

Cristiano Ronaldo may have cleared up some of Saudi Arabia's goal-scoring woes after scoring twice on Monday. But the Manchester United icon was left red-faced after being outplayed by a former Tottenham flop.

After a slow start to the season, the 39-year-old was on the double when he scored twice in Al-Nassr's 3-1 win over Al-Gharafa in the Champions League group stage. AFC.

This means that Ronaldo has now scored four goals in his last four games, but he is still far from the level many expect of him.

The Portuguese icon has scored seven goals in 10 league appearances for his club Al-Nassr this season, which is well below the 35 he scored in the Saudi Pro League last year.

Even though he will celebrate his 40th birthday in February, Ronaldo would still dream of dominating the goalscoring charts in Saudi Arabia.

Instead, he is currently four goals behind former Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has 12 goals for Al-Hilal this season.

Ronaldo is also behind his former Real Madrid colleague Karim Benzema and, perhaps worse, he is currently tied with former Spurs striker Georges-Kevin N'Koudou.

Recruited in 2016 from Marseille by Mauricio Pochettino, N'Koudou was abandoned by the Premier League club after a nightmarish three-year spell in England.

He now plays for Saudi side Damac, who he joined in 2023 after spending four years at Besiktas. And the Cameroonian is enjoying life in the Persian Gulf, scoring 22 goals in 42 appearances since leaving Turkey.

The 29-year-old is tied with Ronaldo on seven goals, although he has played one more match. However, the numbers suggest he is more potent in front of goal with a conversion rate of 45%, while Ronaldo has failed to score with 11 of his 18 shots on target.

Comparing the duo's salary, it's clear that Damac is certainly getting a bargain as opposed to Ronaldo's astronomical salary.

While N'Koudou makes a decent living with Damac – raking in £4.5 million a year according to Sporty Salary – his earnings pale in comparison to Ronaldo's extraordinary salary.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner signed a two-year contract worth £344 million in December 2022. With an annual remuneration of £172 million, the superstar pockets a colossal sum, 38 times the salary of N'Koudou.

Of course, Ronaldo's global appeal as one of the most marketable sports figures helps Al-Nassr sell jerseys and tickets.

But on the pitch, there's not much between the two strikers – and that reflects poorly on Ronaldo given N'Koudou was dumped by Spurs after scoring one goal in 27 appearances.

They meet on Friday with third-placed Al-Nassr looking to close the gap on breakaway pair Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal at the top. And if they want to defeat Damac and N'Koudou, Ronaldo will have to be firing on all cylinders.