Sadio Mane, the star of al-nasr, led his team to a 3-1 victory at First Park in the 28th round of the Saudi Professional League.
Mane took it upon himself to lead the al-nasr in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence due to suspension after he was sent off in the last Super Cup match.
Coach Luis Castro was also absent due to a healthy cake, and his assistant Vitor Severino took over the job of leading the team today.
Al-Faiha took the first lead in the 6th minute through Fashion Scala, but Abdullah al-Omari equalized in the 72nd minute.
Mane scored the second and third wins in the 76th and 82nd minutes, after missing a penalty in the 42nd.
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The world increased its tally to 68 points in second place, reducing the gap with leader Al-Hilal to 9 points, knowing that the leader’s match with Al-Ahly in the current round was postponed to May 6.
In contrast, Al-Faiha’s balance froze at 35 points in 10th place.
Early bite
Severno retained the 5-3-2 method Castro relied on for the first time this season in the last crescent game, pushing today’s duo Sadio Mane and Abdulrahman Gharib in attack.
Just 6 minutes after the start of the game, Scala took advantage of the empty spaces behind commander Sultan Sheep in the right front of the victory, launching into a counter-attack, hitting a floor that inhabited the far left corner of the net.
This is the first goal to find al-nasr in the first 10 minutes of the current season of the domestic competition.
Victory rushed hard to attack to equalise early, and Mane was close to it at the 19th minute after finding himself in a direct confrontation with Al Fayha keeper Vladimir Stojkovic inside the six-yard box, but the keeper shone and cleared the ball for a corner.
Mane tried again with a powerful shot from the boundary of the box in the 22nd minute, but it just rounded the left post.
The hosts intensified their attacking attempts, and Aymeric Laporte fired a rocket strike from inside the area half an hour after the first whistle, around the defence for a corner.
Al-Nasr was awarded a penalty in the 40th minute after sheep were obstructed inside the area by Makhir al-Rashidi, Al-Faiha’s defender.
But Mane hit the kick high to miss the chance to equalize before halftime.
Rimontada Mane
As the second half unfolded, the victory coach pushed young striker Machari Al-Nimr to adjacent Mane and Strangely to the front line, while defender Mohamed Fattel pulled back, thus returning the team to the usual 4-3-3 method hoping to overturn the result.
The hosts almost scored an early goal after Marcelo Brozovic conceded a ball in front of goal, but slowed down to miss the opportunity.
In contrast, Scala shook the victory net with a new goal in the left corner, taking advantage of the empty spaces behind the sheep 7 minutes after the start of the second half, in a duplicate scenario of the first half.
But umpire Mohammed al-Harbi refused to count this time for the Zambian professional’s infiltration.
Al-Nasr continued his offensive rush, and Otavio played a high through ball around Abdulrahman Ghraib heading towards the goal from the birdie position, but rounded the left post.
Victory succeeded in conceding a draw by age from a header, taking advantage of Alex Telles’ corner.
Stojkovic hung on with two headers in one game, but conceded a goal from Mane with a shot “on the birdie” a minute later.
Mane underscored his brilliance with a second goal from a remarkable individual effort, manipulating the Fayha defenders and penetrating from the left front to shoot between the keeper’s feet.
Al-Fayha finished with 10 men after Sakala was sent off in the 88th minute after an argument following a joint ball with Abdullah al-Khaibari in the centre of the pitch.
