Sadio Mane, the star of Al-Nasr, led his team to come from behind against its guest Al-Fayhaa to win (3-1), today, Friday, at Al-Awal Park Stadium, in the 28th round of the Saudi Professional League.

Mane shouldered the task of leading Al-Nasr in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to suspension after being sent off in Al-Hilal’s last match in the Saudi Super Cup.

Coach Luis Castro was also absent due to a health illness, and his assistant Vitor Severino took over the task of leading the team today.

Al-Fayhaa took the lead first in the 6th minute through Fascion Scala, but Abdel-Ilah Al-Omari equalized in the 72nd minute.

Sadio Mane scored the second and third winning goals in the 76th and 82nd minutes, after missing a penalty kick in the 42nd minute.

Al-Alamy raised its score to 68 points in second place, reducing the difference with leaders Al-Hilal to 9 points, noting that Al-Zaeem’s match with Al-Ahly in the current round was postponed to next May 6.

On the other hand, Al-Fayhaa’s balance froze at 35 points in tenth place.

Early bite

Severno maintained the 5-3-2 formation that Castro relied on for the first time this season in the last match with Al Hilal, as today he fielded the duo Sadio Mane and Abdel Rahman Gharib in the attack.

Just 6 minutes after the start of the match, Scala took advantage of the empty spaces behind captain Sultan Al-Ghannam on Al-Nassr’s right front, to launch a counterattack, and hit a shot that reached the far left corner of the net.

Al-Nasr attacked strongly to equalize early, and Mane was close to that after he found himself in a direct confrontation with Vladimir Stojkovic inside the six-yard area, but the Al-Fayhaa goalkeeper shone and put the ball away for a corner.

Mane tried again with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area in the 22nd minute, but it went just short of the left post, then Aymeric Laporte fired a missile shot from inside the area that the defense turned into a corner.

Al-Nasr won a penalty kick in the 40th minute after Al-Ghanem was obstructed inside the area by Al-Fayhaa defender Mukhayr Al-Rashidi, but Mane shot the kick high to miss the chance to equalize before the end of the first half.

Remontada Mani

With the start of the second half, Al-Nasr coach brought in the young striker Mishari Al-Nimr to be next to Mane and Gharib in the front line, while he pulled defender Mohamed Fateel, and thus the team returned to the usual 4-3-3 formation in the hope of overturning the result.

The hosts almost scored an early goal after Marcelo Brozovic received a ball in front of the goal, but he slowed down to waste the opportunity.

Scala scored against Al-Nassr with a new goal in the left corner, taking advantage of the empty spaces behind Al-Ghanam, but referee Mohammed Al-Harbi refused to award the goal due to the Zambian professional being offside.

Al-Nasr continued its offensive push, and Otavio played a high through ball that Abdel-Rahman Gharib headed towards the goal from the flying position, but it went close to the left post.

Al-Nasr succeeded in equalizing through Al-Omari from a header, taking advantage of a corner kick played by Alex Telles.

Stojkovic excelled in stopping two headers in one game, but he received a goal from Mane with a “volley” shot after one minute.

Mane confirmed his brilliance with a second goal through a wonderful individual effort, as he manipulated Al-Fayhaa’s defenders and penetrated from the left front to shoot between the goalkeeper’s feet.

Al-Fayhaa ended the match with 10 players after Sakala was sent off in the 88th minute after an altercation

Shared ball with Abdullah Al-Khaibari in the middle of the field.