Mane puts Al-Nassr into the King’s Cup quarters

Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo celebrate at the final whistle. (Twitter/@AlNassrFC_EN)
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Updated 31 October 2023
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Mane puts Al-Nassr into the King’s Cup quarters

  • Former Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward struck after 107 minutes of an at times bad-tempered tie in which Al-Nassr played with 10 men for the most part
  • Mane had the last word in extra-time to sweep home an Ayman Yahya left-sided cross from close range, and there was no way back for Steven Gerrard’s men

RIYADH: Sadio Mane struck in extra-time to give Al-Nassr a 1-0 win over Al-Ettifaq to send his team into the last eight of the King’s Cup.

The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward struck after 107 minutes of an at times bad-tempered tie in which Al-Nassr played with 10 men for the most part after Anderson Talisca was sent off at the end of the first half.

Talisca looked to have given Al-Nassr a first-half lead, getting on the end of an inswinging cross from Alex Telles to stab home from close range. VAR intervened to rule it offside.

It was to get worse for the Brazilian deep into first-half injury time. Talisca was given a yellow card for what seemed to be an extended arm but, after intervention from VAR, it was upgraded to a red.

The decision enraged the team from Riyadh but despite being a man short, they still pushed forward with Telles and Mane coming close and with Cristiano Ronaldo a constant threat.

Al-Ettifaq later found themselves down to 10 men as Ali Hazzazi saw red at the end of the second half.

Mane then had the last word in extra-time to sweep home an Ayman Yahya left-sided cross from close range, and there was no way back for Steven Gerrard’s men.

Al-Ittihad have been struggling in the league with no wins in four but picked up a welcome victory, defeating Al-Fayha 3-0 thanks to two goals from Abderrazak Hamdallah and one from Karim Benzema.

The Moroccan marksman opened the scoring after just five minutes. Romarinho slipped the ball through and Hamdallah lifted his shot over the advancing Vladimir Stojkovic.

Three minutes from the end, Hamdallah picked up the ball just inside the area and fired a low shot into the bottom corner to seal the win, before Benzema also got on the scoresheet.

Earlier in the day, Al-Shabab also moved into the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win at Al-Fateh, while Al-Taawoun eased past Al-Wehda with a 2-0 victory.

Al-Hilal, Al-Khaleej, and Al-Faisaly progressed on Monday.


Morocco book place in Arab Cup semi-finals with late goal against Syria

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Morocco book place in Arab Cup semi-finals with late goal against Syria

  • Syrian goalkeeper Elias Hadaya frustrated the Moroccans throughout the match before Walid Azaro grabbed the winner in the 79th minute
  • Palestine were due to face Saudi Arabia later in the day for a chance to join them in the last four

DOHA: Morocco are the first team to book their place in the Arab Cup semi-finals, after a late goal in Al-Rayyan, Qatar, on Thursday gave them a 1-0 victory over Syria. Palestine were due to face Saudi Arabia later in the day for a chance to join them in the last four.

Syria matched their opponents for long spells but their impressive run at the tournament came to a heartbreaking end when they conceded in the closing minutes.

Morocco had the better of the limited first-half chances, with Amin Zahzouh forcing goalkeeper Elias Hadaya into a smart early save, but the Atlas Lions suffered a setback when Tarik Tissoudali was forced to exit the game with an injury.

Hadaya continued to frustrate Morocco after the break with a series of crucial interventions, including a sharp stop followed by a goal-line block from Zakaria Hannan.

The breakthrough came in the 79th minute when two Moroccan substitutes combined, Walid Azaro firing home from close range after Hadaya could only parry a long-range strike by Mounir Chouiar into his path.

Morocco had increased the pressure throughout second half and contined to do so as the clock ticked down, with chances falling to Oussama Tannane, Karim El-Berkaoui and Marwane Saadane before the final whistle confirmed the narrow victory.