Al-Ittihad forward Youssef En-Nesyri turned on the referee after Morocco's clash with Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Roshn League, blaming the official for his side's slip-up.
Al-Ittihad were held to a 1-1 draw by visitors Al-Khaleej on Saturday evening at the Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah, in the opening round of the Roshn League.
Speaking to the "Thmanyah" channels after the match, En-Nesyri said: "Praise be to God for everything, we drew 1-1, but there were mistakes, whether on our part or on the part of the referees."
He explained: "There should not have been a red card, there was no contact, but I am happy with the players and what they produced, and I hope the next match will be better, and we will give everything we have to win and make the fans happy."
The Moroccan was pointing to the referee's decision to send off Portuguese defender Danilo Pereira in the 58th minute. After a VAR check, the official dismissed Pereira for kicking an Al-Khaleej player off the ball.
En-Nesyri finished: "We will talk about the next match starting tomorrow, and we will be ready for the match, and we will work to win."
The forward also scored Al-Ittihad's only goal, becoming the fourth foreign player in a row to open the scoring for the "Tigers" in the Saudi Roshn League.