An exceptional gift for the Portuguese star

Nottingham Forest's English striker Liam Delap paid tribute to Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr's captain, on the ruins of Manchester City, the traditional rival of Ronaldo's former club Manchester United.

Forest beat Manchester City 3-1 at the City Ground on Saturday evening in the tenth round of the Premier League.

Delap stole the show. He scored the second and third goals, the last of them stunning, winning the ball in front of his own penalty area before setting off and collecting it in front of City's goal to slot it home.

What came next topped even the goal. Delap raced towards the corner flag and broke out Ronaldo's famous celebration.

His tribute landed just two days after the Portuguese star announced his retirement from international football, a nod from one striker to another in his own way.

Scoring it against Manchester City made the gesture all the sweeter, City being the fierce rival of Manchester United, the club where Ronaldo began his rise towards the throne of world football.

None of this came as a surprise. Delap admitted in a 2020 interview that Cristiano Ronaldo is his role model on the pitch, and even called him the best player in the world.

Delap had managed just one goal this season before his historic brace, against Aston Villa roughly two months ago. Even better, the double came against Manchester City, the club where he began his career.