Mane attributes Al-Nasr’s loss to Al-Ittihad to bad luck and asserts that his team was the best

Senegalese Sadio Mane, Al-Nasr player, attributed his team's loss to Al-Ittihad 2-1 to bad luck, stressing that his team was the better side during the confrontation.

Speaking to the media after the match, Mane said: I think the loss was due to bad luck. We were the better team, but we lost today, and we have to continue working and prepare for the next challenge.

It is noteworthy that the Portuguese Joao Felix contented himself with one sentence to Asharq Al-Awsat: I will announce at the end of the season... and he continued on his way to the bus. Meanwhile, his colleague and compatriot Ronaldo ran out in front of the media without saying anything.

Australian Ange Postecoglou, Al-Nasr coach, expressed his frustration after his team’s loss to Al-Ittihad, noting that the humble start during the first minutes cost his team a lot, while he expressed his satisfaction with the reaction of his players in the rest of the confrontation.

“It is disappointing to lose,” Postecoglou said in the press conference after the match. We did not start the confrontation well, especially in the first 15 minutes, but in the second half we saw our true potential, and we could have scored many goals, but we did not succeed.”

Regarding his decision to include Nawaf Al-Aqidi as a starter, he said: “Nawaf started the match because he was ready. I have two good goalkeepers and I chose the goalkeeper I saw as suitable for the confrontation.”

In response to a question about not starting Abdullah Al-Khaibari alongside Samu Costa in a big confrontation as big as Al-Ittihad, he explained: “We have many options, and I do not think that the problem was that, but rather that we did not start the match correctly. In the second half, we created many chances but were unsuccessful, and this reflects that we performed well. “When you play outside your stadium against a strong opponent and with the support of their fans, this may happen. We rushed through some things, and after we calmed down, things became better.”

Al-Nasr coach refused to hold his players responsible for the missed opportunities, and said: “The chances we had were blocked by Al-Ittihad’s goalkeeper, and our players did not waste them.” This is football and such things happen, but in the corner kicks we did not succeed in delivering the ball as required.”

He added: “In the second half, Al-Ittihad had no real chances, while we reached their goal at least five times, and if we had scored the equalizer, the match would have been different. The players gave everything they had, and I cannot ask for more than that.”

Regarding the team’s repeated confusion at the beginning of matches and conceding early goals, Postecoglou said: “A good observation, but every match has its own different circumstances. Al-Ittihad started with great energy, and sometimes it happens that the focus is less, and if we look at each confrontation separately, we will find that the reasons are different, but our team’s reaction every time is better.”

The Al-Nasr coach concluded his speech by saying: “What I saw was that after the 15th minute there was one team creating chances, which was Al-Nasr. “What the players did last season and what they are doing this season confirms that they have character.”

The fifth round of the Saudi Professional League witnessed a scoring tally of 20 goals, including 4 penalty kicks, in a week that witnessed two expulsions: Oscar Rodriguez from Diriyah and Younis Al-Bahrawi from Al-Taawoun.

Al-Ittihad made the event happen in El Clásico after it succeeded, for the first time in the history of its confrontations against Al-Nasr in the professional league, in scoring two goals within the first 22 minutes of the match, which ended with Al-Ameed winning 2-1, inflicting the first loss this season on the defending champion.

Al-Hilal, the leaders, continued to write history after surpassing its previous record, as it raised its tally to 47 consecutive matches without loss in the professional league (35 victories and 12 draws), surpassing its previous series (46 matches), to become a few steps away from the historical record recorded in the name of Al-Ahly (51 matches), after defeating Al-Shabab with a clean double.

For its part, Al-Ahly presented a remarkable attacking display, beating Riyadh’s net 5-0, which witnessed the scoring of 3 goals in the first half by 3 different foreigners, Ivan Toni, Edward Spretsyan, and Trincao, in an incident that occurred for the team for the first time in the competition since the 2009-2010 season.

NEOM also recorded a historic record by leading by 3 goals at the end of the first half for the first time in its career in the tournament.

In the context of individual numbers, Serbian Sergei Savic, Al Hilal player, appointed Al-Shabab Club as his favorite opponent in the competition by reaching goal number 5 (out of only 10 shots on goal), exceeding his tally against Al-Akhdood (4 goals).

Al-Ahly striker Ivan Toni continued to be the player who took the most penalty kicks and scored the most penalties in the professional league during the year 2026, with 11 goals out of 12 kicks taken.

In Al-Fayhaa, Hugo Moura scored the third-fastest goal in the league this season at the minute (4:02) against Al-Khuloud, and the fastest for his club in the competition since December 2022.

In a strange digital paradox, Al-Taawoun took 13 shots against Al-Fateh without directing any of them on goal (for the first time since the match with Al-Nasr in January 2026), despite scoring the highest expected goals value (1.40 xG) in a match in which he did not shoot on goal.

In terms of fans, the Al-Ittihad and Al-Nasr summit was topped with 47,661 fans, followed by the Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal match with 12,160 spectators, then the Al-Ahly and Riyadh match with 7,101 fans in attendance, then the Diriyah and Al-Qadisiyah match with 4,970 fans.