On Sunday morning (31st), Ainas beat Al Athair 5-1 at home in the Saudi Arabian League, with 39-year-old legend Cron writing another legend in the victory. He scored three goals in his third career hat-trick, taking his goal tally to 882 and increasing his 'caps' to 61, approaching the 1,000-goal mark.
Ainas' Odavio, Emerson and Galebi all contributed. After ending the first half with a 2-1 lead, the second half was all about Cron's individual show.In the 64th minute, Shadiovanni sent in a precise cross from the right and Cron reacted swiftly with a header. He followed that up with another chance in the 67th minute, scoring with a shot from in front of the goal. Before the end of the match, Cron completed his "hat-trick" with a beautiful header, which was also his fourth "hat-trick" for Ainas.
Cron has scored 26 goals in 23 appearances in the Saudi Arabian league, and an astonishingly efficient 39 goals in 40 cup appearances. Although the Portuguese international has yet to announce his retirement, with his amazing goal-scoring rate, he is within reach of surpassing the 1,000-goal record for his career.
It is worth mentioning that despite Cron's heroic performance, Ainas is still 12 points behind the top of the table, Hilal, and the prospect of winning the championship is not optimistic. Cron is afraid that he will face a huge challenge in the battle for the Saudi League title this season.
