Mané Leads Al-Nassr to Third Consecutive Victory

Senegalese star Sadio Mane led defending champions Al Nassr back from afar, turning a two-goal deficit against hosts Al Ettifaq into a dramatic 3-2 victory in stoppage time, despite playing with ten men since the 12th minute, in the third round of the Saudi Pro League.

After beginning their title defense with two consecutive wins, Al Nassr appeared headed for defeat against Al Ettifaq, trailing 2-0 at halftime after their Brazilian goalkeeper, Bento, was sent off in the 12th minute for a foul outside the penalty area.

Suffering from a numerical disadvantage, the team coached by Australian manager Ange Postecoglou fell behind to goals from Slovakian Andrej Duda (31st minute) and Spanish player Alvaro Medran (45+3rd minute), both from long-range shots that young substitute goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Atiqi (18) failed to handle.

At the start of the second half, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted off, making way for Abdullah Al-Khaibari.

However, nothing changed until the 74th minute, when Mane reduced the deficit with a well-placed through ball from Portuguese midfielder Joao Felix. Shortly after, Abdulrahman Al-Amri quickly equalized with a header from a corner taken by Joao Felix (77th minute).

As the match neared its end, Mane snatched victory for the champions with his second goal of the game by beating the offside trap (90th minute), preserving his team’s perfect start to the new season.

Al Nassr moved to the top of the table with nine points, two ahead of Al-Ittihad, who won 3-2 against Al-Hazem on Monday.

In another thrilling match, Al-Shabab drew 3-3 with Al-Riyadh, a game in which Al-Riyadh finished with ten men after Ivorian Abdoulaye Kaita was sent off in the 61st minute. Abha drew 1-1 with Al-Ghaf, while Al-Taawoun and Al-Hazem played to a 0-0 draw.