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En-Nesyri Criticizes Refereeing After Al-Ittihad's Saudi Pro League Opener Draw
🇲🇦 Morocco /Sports

En-Nesyri Criticizes Refereeing After Al-Ittihad's Saudi Pro League Opener Draw

From Hespress · () Arabic

Translated from Arabic, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri criticized refereeing decisions during Al-Ittihad's draw against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League.
  • En-Nesyri felt a red card shown to teammate Danilo Pereira was undeserved and impacted the team's performance.
  • Despite playing with ten men, Al-Ittihad secured a draw, with En-Nesyri scoring their only goal and being named man of the match.

Moroccan international Youssef En-Nesyri has voiced strong criticism regarding the refereeing in Saudi Arabia, particularly after his club, Al-Ittihad, drew 1-1 with Al-Khaleej in their Saudi Pro League opener. En-Nesyri believes that both player errors and questionable officiating contributed to Al-Ittihad's stumble in their first match of the season.

The red card shown to our Portuguese teammate Danilo Pereira was not deserved.

— Youssef En-NesyriThe Moroccan striker commenting on a key refereeing decision during the match.

"The red card shown to our Portuguese teammate Danilo Pereira was not deserved," En-Nesyri stated after the game. He emphasized that the dismissal significantly disrupted the team's balance and the match's flow, especially as Al-Ittihad had to play a substantial part of the second half with ten men. The incident occurred after a VAR review in the 58th minute, a decision En-Nesyri contested, feeling the team suffered due to the referee's calls and the players' own mistakes.

Al-Ittihad had taken the lead just before halftime with a header from En-Nesyri, assisted by Ahmed Al-Julaidan. However, Julián Domínguez equalized for Al-Khaleej in the 52nd minute. Despite the numerical disadvantage following Pereira's red card, Al-Ittihad pushed for a winning goal, but their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, resulting in a shared point for both teams.

The dismissal significantly disrupted the team's balance and the match's flow, especially as Al-Ittihad had to play a substantial part of the second half with ten men.

— Youssef En-NesyriEn-Nesyri explaining the impact of the red card on the team's performance.

Individually, the Moroccan striker delivered a notable performance, posing a constant threat to Al-Khaleej's goal and scoring Al-Ittihad's sole goal. His efforts were recognized as he was awarded man of the match. En-Nesyri affirmed that Al-Ittihad remains focused on achieving victories in upcoming matches, acknowledging his teammates' efforts in the season's debut. He stressed that work would continue to correct errors and return to winning ways.

Both player errors and questionable officiating contributed to Al-Ittihad's stumble.

— Youssef En-NesyriEn-Nesyri's overall assessment of the factors leading to the draw.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hespress in Arabic. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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