CRISTIANO Ronaldo of Riyadh All-Star scored more goals but it was Lionel Messi and the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club who emerged as the victors in their much-anticipated final showdown at the pitch.
Messi and the PSG FC cruised to a 5-4 victory over Ronaldo and Riyadh selection on Thursday night (Friday in the Philippines) at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Messi made his presence felt with a third minute conversion from a pass by Neymar to give PSG FC a 1-0 lead but it was tied by a Ronaldo penalty kick at the 34th minute after he was tackled by the PSG defender.
Marquinhos, however, quickly regained a 2-1 advantage for the Parisians when he slotted the ball from a pass by Kylian Mbappé at the 43rd minute.
The PSG had a chance to widen the lead but Brazillian star Neymar uncharacteristically missed a penalty kick. Ronaldo tied the score for Riyadh just before the halftime break with a close range hit.
The PSG FC was also reduced to 10-man before the second half as Juan Bernat was send off with a red card for a lunging tackle on Saudi player Salem Al-Dawsari.
Sergio Ramos broke the deadlock for PSG FC early in the second half with 53rd minute conversion but Riyadh All-Star tied the score for the last time at 3-3 on a connection by Han Jang from a corner.
Mbappé regained the advantage for the Ligue 1 champions with a penalty kick before Hugo Ekitike widened the advantage to 5-3 with a 78th minute conversion.
Riyadh All-Star still made his presence felt in the dying minutes of the exhibition game as Talisca knocked down a goal from inside the box to cut PSG’s advantage to 4-5.
However, Riyadh All-Star, who sat out Ronaldo in the latter half of the second half, was unable to find and equalizer as the four-minute added time expired.
This was said to be the last time that Messi and Ronaldo are facing each other on the pitch with retirement possibly looming on the two football greats./PN
