Al-Khaleej coach Pedro Emmanuel recounts Odion Ighalo’s role in Al Hilal heartbreak

Head coach of Al-Khaleej, Pedro Emmanuel believes Odion Ighalo dashed their dreams following the Nigerian’s brace scoring outing in Al Hilal victory over his side in a Saudi Arabia Pro-league.

The Nigeria international scored a brace in the first half, beginning with the opener in the 36th minute before he guaranteed the triumph on the brink of half time in the Saudi topflight on Saturday.

The loss keeps Al-Khaleej in 15th place on the table, with 17 points and the manager blamed their setback on Ighalo.

“I am satisfied with the group of players I have. I thank the players for their performance,” Emmanuel told media.

“We knew that the confrontation would be difficult because it was against Al-Hilal. We calmed the game after conceding the first goal, but we did not succeed in protecting our net from the second goal, and I think that we could have gone out tied in the first half but Ighalo thwarted our efforts.

“We wanted to manage the second half with balance after falling behind by two goals in an attempt to get back into the game, but we were unable to take advantage of some of the opportunities that were available to us.”