Riyadh: Cristiano Ronaldo missed the final matchday of the Saudi Pro League due to injury as his Al Nassr team finished their season with 3-0 victory over Al Fateh on Wednesday.
The Portuguese forward decided not to sit on the bench for the frustrating end to his first season in Saudi Arabia after joining Al Nassr in January on a contract estimated by the media to be worth more than 200 million euros ($213.5 million).
The 38-year-old ended up with 14 goals in 16 matches, having played every minute of every league game barring a 1-1 draw with Al Ettifaq last month, when he was taken off in the 84th minute, and Wednesday's final match.
Ronaldo picked up a muscle injury four days previously and was rested ahead of Portugal’s European Championship qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland in June.
In Ronaldo's absence, Anderson Talisca took center stage to score twice. He also assisted Mohammed Marwan for a third.
Al Nassr failed to win any titles this season and finished the league in second place, five points behind the champions Al Ittihad.
Al Ittihad, which had already secured the league championship in the penultimate round, celebrated a first title since 2009 with a 2-0 win against Al Tai.
Abderazzak Hamdallah of Morocco opened the scoring with a second-half penalty that also secured the golden boot with his 21st goal of the season. Former Leeds United and Wolverhampton winger Helder Costa added the second in injury time.
It's the first league title won by coach Nuno Santo, just 18 months after the Portuguese tactician was dismissed by Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League.
Al Hilal, champions last season, finished in third spot with a 3-2 win over Al Raed .
The league will expand from 16 to 18 teams next season.
