THIS WAS the shock moment that “very foolish” Sadio Mane grabbed an opponent by the throat – but he escaped a yellow card.
The angry scene occurred in last night’s ill-tempered Asian Champions League clash that saw the ex-Liverpool forward’s Al-Nassr beaten by Al-Ain.
Cristiano Ronaldo was also involved in a huge bust-up as team-mates and staff clashed following Al-Ain’s dramatic penalty shootout victory in the quarters.
Al-Nassr won 4-3 on the night after losing the first leg 1-0, sending the game to extra time, with neither side able to find a breakthrough.
And after being beaten on spot-kicks, Ronaldo was left reeling from an awful miss inside the six yard box earlier in the clash as he and his colleagues were dumped out.
However, Al-Nassr were also lucky to be left with 11 men on the pitch following Mane’s moment of madness.
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The 31-year-old Senegal star, who moved to Al-Nassr from Bayern Munich last summer, was caught on camera grabbing Al-Ain substitute Saeed Juma round the neck.
Al-Ain manager Hernan Crespo, an ex-Argentina striker, spotted the incident and instantly began appealing to the referee to take action as he reenacted the scene.
Mane, who even the commentator called “very foolish”, could count himself very lucky indeed as he was only issued a caution.
But he was still irate as his team-mates had to calm him down in order to stop him receiving any further punishment.
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Al-Nassr’s Ayman Yahya was not as fortunate later on.
He got his marching orders for a two-footed lunge but Ronaldo made amends for his earlier miss by stepping up to convert a penalty at the death to take it to the shoot-out.
Al-Ain emerged victorious in the spot-kicks 3-1 and will face either Al-Hilal or Al-Ittihad in the semis.
Al-Nassr must now focus on the Saudi Pro League – although their title hopes are quickly fading.
They are currently second to runaway leaders Al-Hilal, who have 21 wins and two draws from their 23 matches.
Al-Nassr trail Al-Hilal by 12 points.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
