Sadio Mane grabs rival’s throat but avoids red card as Al-Nassr make Champions League exit

Sadio Mane was fortunate to avoid a red card after grabbing an opponent by the throat during an angry confrontation.

Mane was playing for Al-Nassr in a AFC Champions League quarter-final second leg against UAE side Al-Ain on Monday when he lost his discipline. The former Liverpool forward was shown a yellow card by the referee after putting his hand around the neck of Al-Ain substitute Saeed Juma.

Al-Ain manager Hernan Crespo saw the incident and was seen appealing to the referee by reenacting it on the sidelines. Mane’s team-mates tried to calm him down and he escaped further punishment, but it was still a miserable night for Al-Nassr, who lost on penalties to exit the competition.

The Saudi Arabian side came into the game with a 1-0 deficit to overturn from the first leg in the UAE, but found themselves 3-0 down on aggregate on the stroke of half-time through a brace by Soufiane Rahimi. That left them with a mountain to climb and they made a good go of it.

Abdulrahman Ghareeb pulled a goal back before the break and an own goal by goalkeeper Khalid Eisa and a low free-kick from former Manchester United defender Alex Telles made things level at 3-3 on aggregate to send the match into extra-time after Cristiano Ronaldo had somehow missed a rebound from three yards out.

The drama continued with Al-Nassr’s Ayman Yahya sent off for a two-footed lunge and the visitors thought they had won it when Sultan Al-Shamsi netted in the 103st minute to make it 4-3. But Ronaldo made amends for his earlier miss – one of 13 efforts on goal – by scoring from the penalty spot in the 118th minute to send the match at Al-Awwal Park to penalties.

Ronaldo apologised to the Al-Nassr fans after scoring, but he was the only one who emerged with any credit in the shoot-out as Al-Nassr’s other star players, Telles, Otavio and Marcelo Brozovic, all failed to score. Al-Ain scored three times to take the shoot-out 3-1 and book a AFC Champions League semi-final against either Al-Hilal or Al-Ittihad, both from Saudi Arabia.

In the other half of the draw, South Korean sides Jeonbuk Motors and Ulsan Hyundai play on Tuesday with the score at 1-1 from the first leg, while Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos, who are managed by Harry Kewell, will hope to defend a 2-1 lead against Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan.

Having been knocked out of the AFC Champions League, Al-Nassr will turn their focus to the Saudi Pro League, where they sit second behind runaway leaders Al-Hilal. The leaders remain unbeaten with a record of 21 wins and two draws from their 23 games and appear to be cruising to the title with a 12-point advantage.