Al-Nasr coach Slavisa Jokanovic admitted that his team faced significant difficulties in securing a 3-2 win over Al-Bataeh in the match held last evening as part of the ninth round of the ADNOC Pro League. Jokanovic said in press statements: "Indeed, we encountered difficulties in the second half despite the advantage we had for the entire 45 minutes. Al-Bataeh managed to score two goals against us and could have drawn, but in the end, we succeeded in getting the goal we entered the match for. This victory will give us a morale boost for the upcoming matches, but the most important thing is to work hard to correct our mistakes if we want to be among the best." On his part, Al-Bataeh coach Ferrad Majidi confirmed that his team played a good match despite the numerical disadvantage for long periods. He said: "We managed to come back twice and were close to a draw. I believe the result is not fair, but my players deserve credit for their performance." Al-Nasr managed to achieve a hard-fought victory over Al-Bataeh, which played with 10 men from the 33rd minute after goalkeeper Ibrahim Eisa was sent off for fouling Al-Nasr's Iranian player, Mehdi Ghayedi, outside the penalty area. Al-Nasr capitalized on the numerical advantage before the end of the first half when Mehdi Ghayedi broke the offside trap and faced the substitute goalkeeper, scoring the goal to put the visiting team ahead. Al-Bataeh returned to the match, benefiting from a crucial mistake by Al-Nasr's goalkeeper, Abdullah Al-Tamimi, allowing Anatoli to score the equalizer in the 72nd minute. Al-Nasr quickly responded with a brilliant individual effort from Mehdi Ghayedi, who struck the ball into a difficult spot for the goalkeeper in the 73rd minute. Anatoli shone again, scoring the equalizer with a powerful shot from a close distance in the 77th minute. Just as the match was heading for a draw, substitute Sekna Doumbia capitalized on a defensive error to give Al-Nasr the lead in the 90th minute. With this victory, Al-Nasr's points tally rose to 14, moving them to sixth place, while Al-Bataeh remained in 12th place with six points.
