Watch | Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr teammate Sadio Mane escapes red card after grabbing opponent’s throat

Al-Nassr forward Sadio Mane has invited criticism after he escaped a red card during his team's AFC Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash against Al Ain on Monday (Mar 11). Mane grabbed the throat of Al-Anin defender Saeed Juma's throat in a heated moment but was only awarded a yellow card by the referee.

The former Liverpool star who made the move to Saudi Arabia last year, was playing as his side attempted to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg. However, Al Nassr conceded two more goals before Abdulrahman Ghareeb pulled one back towards the end of the first half.

A minute before former Manchester United player Alex Telles scored the decisive third goal to force extra-time, Mane seemingly lost his calm and grabbed the opposition player's throat which was caught on camera.

Al-Ain manager Hernan Crespo stood on the sidelines and strongly protested the referee's decision to only show a yellow card to the Senegalese star.

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However, Mane's impact on the pitch remained muted as his side crashed out of the tournament following a 1-3 loss in the penalties after the game ended all square at the end of extra time.

After the match ended, a huge scuffle broke out between the two sides with Cristiano Ronaldo at the centre of it. Referres and officials from both teams had to intervene to break up the kerfuffle.

After being dumped out of the continental tournament, Al-Nassr would hope to win the league title but it appears out of their hands as well. The team led by Ronaldo currently sits second in the league table with Al-Hilal leading the pack by a gap of 12 points.

Notably, Monday was not the first instance when Mane has