Referee Drama Steals the Riyadh Derby as Shabab's Coach Blasts Officials

Aftermath of the Riyadh Derby

The Spanish coach Emmanuel Alguacil, Shabab's manager, voiced strong anger after the Riyadh derby defeat to Al-Nassr, 3-2, in Round 16 of the Roshn Saudi Pro League.

Shabab sit on 11 points in 14th place, while Al-Nassr move to 34 points in second.

After the match, Alguacil told the press: “With all due respect to Al-Nassr and all its players, it was the referee who granted them the victory tonight.”

He added: “I don't want to talk more; you all saw what happened in the match... what happened today was unfair, because the encounter was balanced, but the referee decided to send off Siro.”

He continued: “The sending off was incorrect, and tomorrow we will meet with the refereeing committee; Al-Nassr had around 48 hours more rest than us, but we managed to show a strong character, especially after trailing by two goals.”

He emphasized: “We had a reaction and scored, and when we dominated the match, the referee refused to continue with 11 players, and he issued a red card.”

On the technical level, Alguacil said: “I am the first to admit we made mistakes at the start of the match, and I take responsibility for what happened at the beginning, but after conceding the two goals we managed to correct the course; for long periods we were better than Al-Nassr, then you saw what happened with the referee.”

He concluded: “I didn't speak except for what I saw on the field, and what everyone who was at the stadium witnessed; imagine a ball that isn't a foul counted as a second yellow and your player is sent off.”

Punchline 1: If refereeing were a reality show, this derby would win the season.

Punchline 2: The only thing more offside than our passes was the referee’s decision.