Spanish coach Emmanuel Alguacil of Al-Shabab praised his counterpart at Al-Hilal after the loss in the Riyadh derby on Friday in the Roshan Saudi Pro League.

Al-Shabab suffered a defeat against Al-Hilal with a single goal in the derby match of the seventh round of the Roshan Saudi League, which took place at the "Kingdom Arena," the home ground of the champions.

Alguacil said in his remarks: "Al-Hilal's stadium is truly amazing, their team is excellent, and their coach as well. We are sorry for the loss, but my players put in a great effort in the match."

He continued: "This match strengthens us as we are building a team for the future. It is not just about having possession of the ball; the most important thing is to create chances, and I believe we had more chances than Al-Hilal. We decided to give them the ball and play defensively, and then look for opportunities to score ourselves."

He added: "Unfortunately, we suffered due to injuries and many absences, and Carrasco could not play more than half an hour because he suffered from the flu yesterday."

He concluded: "Al-Hilal is a strong team, and any opponent that opens the field against them will be defeated. In the last 20 minutes of the match, we were close to equalizing."