USM Annaba seize lead in Algerian Premier League

2009-10-26

In an exciting round of Day 10 matches, USM Annaba knocked MCA from their position at the peak of the Algerian Premier League.

By Lyes Aflou for Magharebia in Algiers – 26/10/09

[USMA] Union Sportive de la Medina Annaba strategising led to a victory over Mouloudia Club d'Alger and a place at the top of the table.

USM Annaba dislodged MC Algiers from the top of the table by beating USM Algiers 1-0 at home on Day 10 of League Division 1, which was played over Friday and Saturday (October 24th and 25th).

Annaba, the new leaders, have gone undefeated for nine games in a row.

USM Alger's manager, Noureddine Saadi, accused the referee of depriving his team of a penalty and a valuable goal.

"I'm not normally one to criticise referees, but I can't hold my tongue after what we saw today. Quite honestly, I was outraged at the biased refereeing. The worst thing in all this was that [the referee] was not content with depriving us of a penalty – he also disallowed [striker Alain] Nebie's goal even though the ball had gone over the line. I would say that we were up against two opponents today: Annaba and the referee."

Annaba's ascent was helped by MCA's draw at home against AS Khroub.

With MCA playing at home, fans believed they had an opportunity to stretch their lead over their nearest rivals. In fact, MCA scored in the 52nd minute, courtesy of striker Salim Boumechra. But they did not reckon on the burst of pride shown by AS Khroub, who equalised thanks to a penalty taken by midfielder El Ami Daoudi in the 75th minute. RCA later had difficulty converting their dominance into more goals.

MCA manager Alain Michel was disappointed with the outcome and blamed the referee for awarding what he saw as an overgenerous penalty.

"The referee was overtaken by events," the coach told local press after the match. "I don't think it was a penalty; the referee was the only one who thought so."

"I believe we had the upper hand over ASK from start to finish," he added. "They refused to play football, and in the end they received a gift from [the referee]. That's not the way forward for Algerian football. I'm disappointed at the result, but above all by the refereeing." MCA fans can take heart, however, from the fact that their team has a game in hand.

The first half of Day 10, which was played on Friday, also saw two resounding victories. First, ASO Chlef subjected CR Belouizdad to a 5-0 drubbing.

Belouizdad chairman Mahfoudh Kerbadj said he was baffled by his team's thrashing.

"It was a very heavy defeat, which we're obviously not overjoyed at, and which I simply cannot explain," he said. In his view, "everyone came up short in this match. The players were out of form and failed in their mission."

In another resounding victory, WA Tlemcen beat CA Bordj Bou Arreridj 2-0 at home thanks to striker Ghezal, who scored twice within the space of three minutes (64th and 66th). WAT now stand third in the table with 17 points.

After a tough start to the season for ASO Chlef, their 5-0 victory over CRB marked a much-needed revival of their fortunes. Midfielder Mohamed Messaoud scored four of their goals. The win lifted them to 16th in the table with 9 points. MSP Batna, who lost 0-1 on Friday to USM Blida, are now at the bottom of the pile (18th with 6 points).

USM Blida and CA Batna notched up wins against MSP Batna (1-0) and MC Oran (2-0) respectively. Their victories moved them up considerably in the table to sixth and fourth.

Big surprises lay in store in the second half of Day 10, which was played on Saturday. There were away wins for JSM Bejaïa, who took three points against USM El Harrach in the eastern suburb of Algiers thanks to a 2-1 win, and, ES Setif, who inflicted a punishing 2-0 defeat on NA Hussein Dey. But there were no surprises in Tizi Ouzou, where JS Kabylie beat MC El Eulma 1-0.

JSK chairman Mohand Cherif Hannachi levelled a barely veiled criticism at the team's manager, Jean-Christian Lang, regarding the performance, which he felt was unconvincing despite the win.

"Everyone has told me that it was our midfield that was the weak link in our match against MCEE," he said. "Indeed, there was a gaping hole in that department, and that's why the team's performance was below par."

Lang openly acknowledged that his tactics did not work well. "It was an unlikely win, even though we could have scored more goals during the first half, in the interesting situations that presented themselves and with the two penalties that the referee denied us."

"I decided to field a lot of forwards – five of them, but apparently it wasn't the right solution. I took a risk and although it didn't pay off, the main thing is that we took the three points for the win," he told journalists.