'Outstanding' - what happened when Brendan Rodgers took on Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia

The Northern Irishman was appointed Al-Qadsiah boss in December in what was hailed a "landmark moment" for the club following his acrimonious exit from Celtic two months earlier.

Rodgers handed in his resignation following a 2-1 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle on October 26 before being accused of "divisive, misleading, and self-serving" behaviour by Celtic principal shareholder Dermot Desmond.

The 52-year-old has put his Parkhead fall-out behind him in the Middle East by starting his Al-Qadsiah tenure with a four match unbeaten run with an opening draw followed by three straight victories.

The latest win was a particularly special one as it came against Ronaldo's Al-Nassr, who entered the game placed second in the Saudi Pro League table, locked in a title race with Al-Hilal.

Al-Nassr were also unbeaten at home all season, but Rodgers’ men shattered that record by claiming a 2-1 victory at Al Awwal Park to move up to fourth in the standings, four points behind Ronaldo's side with an eight-point gap to leaders Al-Hilal.

Second half goals by Julian Quinones and Nahitan Nandez put Al-Qadsiah two goals up, and although Ronaldo got himself on the scoresheet from the penalty spot, the Portugal superstar was unable to conjure up an equaliser.

Rodgers, who embraced Ronaldo on the touchline prior to kick-off, said: "We are very happy with today’s victory, and we dedicate it to our fans and to the people of Khobar, who truly deserve this win.

"We showed our capabilities against a big club like Al-Nassr. In the second half, we needed to improve our ball possession, and that is something we worked on throughout the match.

"We tried to force Al-Nassr to play long balls, and we asked our attackers to drop back and contribute defensively.

"All the players delivered an outstanding performance both offensively and defensively, and their tactical discipline was clearly evident.

"Our goal is to continue winning and to make this victory a strong motivation for achieving more positive results in the upcoming matchweeks of the Saudi Pro League.

"We have a long way to go before we arrive at the technical level. We should’ve won our first game. We should be four out of four wins.

"But I have to applaud the players, because their ability to work hard, and bring onto the field the ideas that we are trying to bring to them, and play with a spirit and a heart, that makes me really proud.”

Rodgers, who won back-to-back league titles with Celtic in his second spell with the club, having also previously managed Liverpool and Leicester City, added: “We’re really only at the beginning, working with the players that are here. And as we go through the process, play much better, control games better, whilst keeping the attacking threat…

“Because I promised when I arrived that we would be offensive and aggressive, with discipline.”