Cristiano Ronaldo bounced back from being substituted in midweek by Ange Postecoglou by scoring the winner to preserve Al Nassr's perfect start to the new campaign.

Al Nassr had completed a remarkable comeback from two goals down to beat rivals Al Ettifaq 3-2 on Tuesday, with the fightback coming after Ronaldo had been hauled off at half-time.

Ronaldo, however, was in the starting line-up again on Friday night as Al Nassr faced Al Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League.

The reigning champions fell behind in the first half with Mohammed Bassam Al Hurayji putting the visitors ahead.

Samu Costa scored for Al Nassr in first half stoppage time to leave the teams level at 1-1 at the break.

Ronaldo this time remained on the pitch at the start of the second half and struck within five minutes of the restart.

The Al Nassr captain flicked home from close range, turning his team-mate Mohamed Simakan's goalbound shot into the roof of the net.

Simakan appeared shocked by Ronaldo's intervention with his effort already heading into the bottom corner.

Ronaldo's goal proved to be the winner on the night, with the veteran forward having watched the final ten minutes from the bench after being taken off again by Postecoglou as he builds his fitness at the start of the season.

The goal took Ronaldo's career tally to 978, with the 41-year-old hoping to reach four figures before retiring.

The goal also saw Ronaldo become Al Nassr's all-time top goalscorer in the Saudi Pro League having struck 104 times.

His overall total of 131 puts him joint second in the club's list of top scorers in all competitions, some way shy of Majed Abdullah's tally of 259.

'I'm very, very happy,' Ronaldo said post-match. 'It's a great achievement, but it's not just Cristiano's achievement.

'I have to say thank you to my teammates, because without them, this wouldn't have been possible.

'But I'm also very happy for the fans.'

The match was the perfect response to midweek, where Ronaldo had been seen angrily gesturing and removing his captain's armband as he walked down the tunnel with his side 2-0 down to Al Ettifaq.

Postecoglou had stressed after Al Nassr fought back to win without Ronaldo that the focus should be on his team's efforts to turn the match around.

'I think there’s a bigger story today, and that is that ten men of Al Nassr were unbelievable. That's all you should write about today, everything else doesn't matter,' he said on Tuesday.

'It doesn't matter what team because if you see ten men in those conditions for so long, 2-0 down to come back, that's the only story today.'

Al Nassr are currently top of the early Saudi Pro League table after beginning the season with four wins, while they were also victorious in their opening King's Cup match earlier this month.