TheCable

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice while Messi netted once as Paris Saint-Germain saw off a Riyadh All-Star XI 5-4 in an exhibition match played at the King Fahd stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

In the much-anticipated meeting of two of football’s greatest of all time (GOATs), PSG fielded a strong XI that featured Messi alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar Jr., while the Riyadh XI was captained by Ronaldo, their newest superstar.

A capacity crowd was on hand to see the two players who have held sway at the top of football for over a decade, with luminary figures including Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood legend, also in attendance.

The game which lived up to its billing started with Messi giving PSG the lead in the second minute after being set up by Neymar.

Ronaldo had his flicks and skills on show and would eventually equalize from the penalty spot for 1-1.

Marquinhos’ smart finish regained the lead for PSG after they had gone down to ten men following Juan Bernat’s dismissal for scything down Salem Al Dawsari who was through on goal.

𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: Cristiano Ronaldo is MAN OF THE MATCH! 🥇 pic.twitter.com/ln3nP9vkZu

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— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) January 19, 2023

Neymar missed an embarrassingly poor penalty to widen PSG’s lead as Ronaldo punished the wasted opportunity with a shot off his header that hit the post for a 2-2 scoreline at the interval.

While the Saudi-assembled side nearly took the lead early in the second half, both teams exchanged goals three minutes apart.

Ramos poked into the net on 53 minutes following excellent work from Mbappe before Hyeon Soo jang’s flicked header from a corner kick on 56 minutes restored parity at 3-3.

Another penalty was awarded to PSG and this time it was Mbappe who took and converted for 4-3 on the hour before both Ronaldo and Messi were substituted afterward.

Hugo Ekitike finished with aplomb from a counterattack to make the scoreline 5-3 for the French capital side before the hosts got a final goal in the 94th minute to end the match 5-4.

Ronaldo was named the man of the match.