Al Nassr’s hopes for silverware are dashed in disappointing fashion as they fall to Kawasaki in the ACL Elite final. In an ironic twist, the match was Saturday’s only other game. Al Nassr, arguably the biggest club in the Saudi Pro League, lost an engrossing contest despite their spirited effort.
The match had four notable turning points. Sadio Mané put the aggregate score at 1-1 with his goal to level the match. Al Nassr had a hard time making their chances count. Cristiano Ronaldo agreed to join the club in early December 2022. At 40 years old and looking every bit of that fact, he had his chances to bury the ball but simply didn’t come through. Most strikingly of all, he actually hit the woodwork during the game himself, which summed up his team’s lack of finishing ability.
Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale had the early advantage when Yuto Ozeki scored on the stroke of half-time. Al Nassr responded strongly, and Ayman Yahya found the back of the net three minutes before the end of the game. It was a moment of magic in the 76th minute when Akihiro Ienaga hit the winning goal. This left Al Nassr on the back foot, from which they would struggle to recover.
He played a major role in the friendly against Kawasaki. But for all their urgent, attacking play, Al Nassr were unable to bring a tying goal that would have forced extra time.
Al Nassr’s boss Stefano Pioli was critical after a poor performance by his team. So when he said the errors that marred the contest proved incredibly costly for them, he was taking ownership.
“We have made a lot of mistakes and this has cost us the match,” – Al Nassr coach Stefano Pioli.
Even with players of the caliber of Ronaldo and Mané, Al Nassr found it difficult to dictate the flow of play. As Tatsuya Ito of Kawasaki noted, it is always a big challenge to play against such well-known players.
“Our opponent surprised us, they played at a very high level and the problem was that we were not disciplined. We committed a lot of mistakes and we didn’t play at our full capacity,” – Al Nassr coach Stefano Pioli.
Despite possessing world-class players such as Ronaldo and Mané, Al Nassr struggled to maintain control over the match. Tatsuya Ito from Kawasaki remarked on the challenge of facing such renowned players.
“Al Nassr have Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mané and such big names and in that game at some moments there were difficulties for us to play against them,” – Tatsuya Ito.
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