Ange Postecoglou suffered his first loss as Al-Nassr boss with the Saudi champions falling 2-1 away to rivals Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League.
Former Monaco forward, 20-year-old George Ilenikhena’s first half brace ended Al-Nassr’s unbeaten run under their new Australian manager – who was named manager of the month for August after an excellent start to his tenure in Riyadh.
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Postecoglou’s side remain second on the table, but fell three points behind league leaders Al-Hilal – who boast a perfect record of five wins from five matches.
Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Angelo Gabriel clawed a goal back for Al-Nassr on the 36th minute mark, but as the hosts deployed a back five, Postecoglou’s men were unable to find a second half equaliser.
Cristiano Ronaldo even went to the lengths of peering over the shoulder of his former Portugal teammate Danilo Pereira when he was given a note by his manager as Al-Nassr tried to break down their opponents.
Frustrated by Al-Ittihard’s dogged display, Postecoglou said post-game that for the majority of the match, his side was the one trying to take the game on.
“What I saw in the encounter was that after the 15th minute there was only one team creating chances, and that was Al-Nassr,” he said. “What our players did last season, and this season, has proven that they have character.”
Postecoglou added: “In the second half Al-Ittihad had no real chances, whereas we got there at least five times, and had we scored the equaliser it would have been different.
“The players did what was required of them and I cannot ask for better from them because they gave their utmost.”
Al-Ittihad’s head coach Jens Wissing did not take too kindly to his counterpart’s remarks.
“I want to be sure of that first. Everyone saw what we did, and we were not clinical in the counter-attacks we created, and what we did on the pitch everyone can see,” the German said.
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Postecoglou was full of praise for Serbian shot stopper Predrag Rajković, however.
Al-Nassr had nine shots on target, but only found the back of the net once.
“The chances that came our way were dealt with by Al-Ittihad’s goalkeeper, and our players did not waste them,” Postecoglou said.
“The matter is that it is football and that happens. And on the corner kicks we could not deliver the ball in the required manner.”
Al-Nassr have three more games in the next ten days, including their opening AFC Champions League clash, before the first international break of the season.
They will be without Ronaldo’s Portugal teammate Joao Felix in their game, however, after he picked up his fourth yellow card of the season – triggering an automatic one-match ban.
Felix showed his frustrations on the pitch at the time and then carried it into the mixed zone post-game.
He barged past reporters, refusing to answer questions and only said: “I won’t speak to you, because if I do, I’ll expose this league.”
Regardless of Felix’s outburst, with so much football still to come, Postecoglou was not getting carried away with one disappointing performance.
“It is frustrating to lose,” he said. “We did not start the encounter well, especially in the first 15 minutes, and in the second half we saw our true capabilities, and it was possible to score several goals, but we did not get it right.”
“Every encounter is a different event,” he added. “Today’s opponent has great energy and it happens that concentration is lower, and if we look at each match on its own the reasons differ in every encounter, and when we watch our team’s reaction it is better every time.”