“Created a mini earthquake” - Eagled-eyed fans spot ‘genius’ Cristiano Ronaldo manoeuvre ahead of incredible free-kick goal

Al-Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo struck a wonderful free-kick on Saturday (March 18), and eagle-eyed fans spotted his 'genius' manoeuvre before taking it.

The Portuguese roared back on to the scoresheet after firing a blank in two games with a stunning dead-ball strike from 35 yards out. With the Knights of Najd trailing since the 26th minute, Ronaldo restored parity with over ten minutes remaining.

It was his ninth strike for the club since making his debut in mid-January and perhaps the most spectacular one by far as well.

Fans went berserk to see the former Real Madrid and Manchester United star's set-piece prowess to score his first free-kick for his new side. Now, the fanbase has spotted his manoeuvre in the build-up to the strike and feels that makes it a better goal than what they originally thought.

As he scampered up a few steps before knocking it, Ronaldo hit the ground so hard that the ball bounced off the ground by a few centimeters. That allowed the player to strike it with tremendous force and direct it straight into the back of the net.

One Twitter user called it 'genius', while another made an audacious claim that whenever Ronaldo's 'greatness' steps foot, 'the earth will tremble'. Here are some of the best Twitter reactions to the goal:

One user said:

"He created a mini earthquake."

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Ronaldo's ridiculous free-kick stats

Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick ability has visibly declined in recent years, but his latest goal for Al-Nassr showed he still possesses some of his famed prowess.

The Portuguese ace's goal on Saturday was the 59th of his career from free-kicks, a remarkable number by all accounts. Although his arch-rival Lionel Messi is still two ahead of him on the all-time stats, Ronaldo is slowly catching up with him.

The 38-year-old has scored 33 free-kick goals in league games, another 12 in the Champions League and three more in other cup competitions. With the national team, Ronaldo has scored ten, while his last free-kick goal before Saturday was in Juventus' 4-1 Serie A over Torino in July 2020.

Al-Nassr fans will hope to see him score more such bangers from the dead ball.