Championnat national de football, 2008 - 2009

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Championnat national de football :
Désillusion pour la JSK, Blida en sursis

Vendredi 1 Mai 2009 -- La formation kabyle a été tenue en échec par l’USM El Harrach (1-1) et rate l’occasion de prendre seule les rênes des commandes. Ce résultat a profité au leader sétifien dont le match face au MCA a été reporté à cause de la participation de l’Entente en coupe de la CAF. L’Entente se trouve depuis mercredi à Luanda (Angola) pour disputer demain la manche retour face au Récréativo qu’elle avait battu par 4 à 0 au match aller. La JSM Béjaïa, l’autre représentant algérien en coupe de la CAF, qui se trouve depuis mardi à Bamako jouera également demain. La mission des Béjaouis est beaucoup plus difficile face au Stade Malien qui n’a qu’un seul but de retard. Pour revenir à la 29e journée du championnat national, tous les poursuivants ont chuté, à l’image du CABBA qui s’est incliné au Khroub par 2 à 1. Le même résultat a sanctionné le derby algérois entre le NAHD et l’USMA dans un match musclé au cours duquel les deux joueurs, Ammour et Aït Alia, se sont gravement blessés et sont déclarés forfait jusqu’à la fin de saison. Les deux formations, l’ASK et le NAHD, ont fait la meilleure affaire de la journée puisqu’ils s’éloignent de la zone des relégables, notamment avec le nul qui a sanctionné le match MC Saïda – USM Blida. Les deux points perdus à domicile par la formation de la ville des Eaux pourraient s’avérer fatals dans le décompte final.

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Championship hopes dashed for JSK

May 3, 2009 -- Despite sharing first place in the Algerian league with ES Setif, JS Kabylie are unlikely to remain on top once Setif play their scheduled games.

JSK, anticipating a win on Thursday (April 30th) over USM El Harrach, had to settle for a 1-1 draw instead. A win would have given JSK a chance at the title if Setif lost their remaining matches. ES Setif postponed their Day 29 contest because of their CAF Cup commitments.

Thursday's match looked good for JSK until the Harrachis equalised just minutes before the end of the match.

JSK coach Jean-Christian Lang criticised his players for underestimating their opponents, who were motivated by potential relegation to Division 2.

"Since they were ahead until ten minutes before the final whistle," he said, "the players were too quick to assume that nothing would go wrong and that the game was in the bag."

Lang also blamed the match conditions for his team's sub-par showing.

"There are several reasons for the way they performed and eased off," Lang said. "It's hot at the moment, and they had to play during the afternoon behind closed doors, which meant that the match was a very low-key affair. The third reason was the fact that El Harrach was in good form. There was a complete lack of concentration on our part, especially towards the end of the match."

At the Zioui field in Algiers, NA Hussein Dey saw a revival of fortune with a 2-1 win over neighbours USM Algiers, lifting them to twelfth on the table with 35 points. Meanwhile, USMA demonstrated once again why this has not been a season to remember for them. Trainer Kamel Mouassa questioned decisions made by the referee, who he said had turned a blind eye to two on-field injuries.

"How can you play football when the referee condones rough play," he asked. "After twenty minutes' play we ended up with two players injured, including Ait Ali, who is fair-play personified and might now never play again."

USMA now stand eighth on the table with 39 points.

AS Khroub – currently tied in twelfth place with 35 points – caused an upset with their 2-1 victory over number-three team CA Bordj Bou Arreridj. ASK also booked themselves a place in the Algerian Cup final by knocking out league leaders ES Setif. AS Khroub manager Biskri said that the win would haul his team out of danger.

CABBA manager Abbes expressed disappointment at his team's performance. "This defeat has put an end to our string of good results, but we're going to do all we can to get ourselves back on track," he told journalists.

Saida was the venue for a battle between two teams facing the threat of relegation: MC Saida and USM Blida. The goalless draw left MCS still in danger of going down. They are now fifteenth with 28 points, while USMB are just one place above them with 26 points.

In El Eulma, CR Belouizdad, who have made it through to the Algerian Cup final and are joint sixth in the league with 41 points, lost 1-0 to MC El Eulma, who are fourth with 43 points.

ASO Chlef, who are joint sixth with 41 points, notched up a 2-1 home victory over MSP Batna, who are in 14th place with 30 points.

Meanwhile, the Algerian Football Federation announced on Saturday that the 2009 Algerian Cup final between CABBA and CR Belouizdad would take place on May 21st. The final league matches will therefore be postponed until the end of May.

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ES Sétif hire former MC Saida coach

May 5, 2009 -- Former MC Saida coach Ali Mechich will lead ES Sétif for their next CAF Cup run, El Watan reported on Tuesday (May 5th). He succeeds Azzedine Ait Djoudi, who left the club on April 27th. Even though ESS lost their CAF Cup match to Angola's Recreativo Libello 5-1 on Saturday, the Algerians advance to the quarter-finals on aggregate. There is no information about the terms of Mechiche's contract.

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Division Une :
Blida s’accroche, Kouba décroche

Vendredi 8 Mai 2009 -- La 30e journée du championnat national de Division I a été favorable à l’USMB qui quitte la zone des relégables à la faveur de sa victoire sur l’USMH sur le score de 2 à 0. Les Blidéens devancent désormais le MC Saïda d’un point et peuvent s’en sortir s’ils parviennent à bien négocier le reste du parcours. L’équipe de la ville des Eaux, en revanche, se trouve plus que jamais en danger. Malgré le changement opéré au niveau du staff technique, l’équipe drivée par Medjadj n’arrive plus à décoller. Après le nul concédé à Blida jeudi dernier, le MCS s’est incliné hier face à l’USM Alger et se trouve en position de deuxième relégable après le RCK qui aura perdu tout espoir du maintien en Division Une. Les Koubéens se sont inclinés devant leur voisin du NAHD (0-2) qui a du coup pris sa revanche du match aller qui s’est soldé par le même score. Par cette victoire, le NAHD vient d’assurer définitivement son maintien en Division Une, tout comme l’AS Khroub, autour de la meilleure opération de la journée en allant s’imposer à Annaba face à l’USMAn locale sur le même score (0-2) grâce à un doublé de Hammami. Le MSP Batna aura également fait un grand pas vers le maintien à la faveur de sa victoire sur le MC El Eulma (1-0). Deux matches pour le titre auront lieu aujourd’hui : ESS - ASO d’un côté, et CABBA - JSMB de l’autre. L’Entente de Sétif qui s’est qualifiée difficilement en coupe de la CAF est fixé sur son adversaire du prochain tour : il s’agit du Djoliba de Bamako (Mali).

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ESS move closer to Algerian title, RCK face relegation

May 10, 2009 -- RC Kouba's 2-0 home loss to NA Hussein Dey on Day 29 of the Algerian D1 football championship series confirmed the team's relegation to Division 2 next season. It also ensured that their opponents will hold onto Division 1 status.

"It's now certain that we'll be staying in Division 1," said NAHD coach Fawzi Bizerti after the match. "The win will set us up nicely for our derby against CR Belouizdad. We now need to take as many points as we can to achieve the highest possible ranking."

NAHD currently lie eleventh in the table with 38 points.

USM Blida, who also risked losing their D1 classification, excelled with a 2-0 home win over USM El Harrach. The victory lifted them from their dangerous position on the table: one from the bottom.

For coach El Hadi Khezzar and his squad, the win was welcome after an especially tough season. "It was the players' determination that made them superior to USMH. It was a tough game for us, but we expected it to be, given what was at stake," he commented.

Even though his team renewed hopes of avoiding relegation, they are not out of the woods just yet, noted Khezzar, who only recently retracted his planned resignation from the club.

"We need more good results, especially away from home," he warned, "if the team is to be spared any nasty surprises at the end of the season".

For his part, El Harrach manager Hacen Benomar attributed his team's defeat to their busy schedule.

"It was our third match in a week. That's too much for a young team like ours," he argued. "We played last Thursday against JSK, on Monday against RCK and today against USMB. The players were physically stale and a lot of our regular players were out of action."

USM Algiers' 1-0 victory over MC Saida in Bologhine put the latter at risk of relegation. MCS have just 28 points; their remaining matches will decide their fate.

MSP Batna, in fourteenth with 33 points, saved themselves from the threat of relegation with a 1-0 victory over MC El Eulma. AS Khroub are also out of danger, after beating hosts USM Annaba 2-0.

At the top of the table, ES Setif inched closer to the title by beating ASO Chlef 2-1 in a postponed match played Friday evening at home. This result kept Setif, who still have four games in hand, at the top of the table with 51 points.

After faltering in their match with MC Algiers, JS Kabylie are now two points behind ESS.

JSK manager Jean-Christian Lang voiced his disappointment with the 1-1 draw. "I'm very unhappy after this failure, and that's what it is in my opinion because we were counting on taking three valuable points. We were intent on winning and although all teams have to focus on making a team effort, I have to say that we failed to do that against MCA," he commented.

"I have never talked about the prospect of winning the title and I'm not going to start making any promises now," Lang added. "Today we're one point better off than we were last week, and last week we took a point against El Harrach."

"As far as I'm concerned, points are all that count," he said.

In Bou Arreridj, third-placed CABBA (46 points) and fourth-placed JSM Bejaia (43 points) drew 1-1. This result kept both sides in their respective positions in the table.

[Al-khiyal]

La JSK terminera la saison à huis clos :
Quatre matches de suspension contre Hannachi

Lundi 11 Mai 2009 -- La commission de discipline, réunie hier, a infligé une lourde sanction à l’encontre de la JS Kabylie. En effet, les Canaris ont écopé de deux matches à huis clos assorti d’une amende de 60 000 DA. Le président de la formation de la ville des Genêts, Moh Chérif Hannachi, a été sanctionné pour quatre matches fermes en plus d’une amende de 20 000 DA. Pour sa part, Nassim Oussalah a été suspendu d’un match pour contestation de décision. Autrement dit, il ne sera pas présent lors du prochain match que livrera son équipe face à l’ASO. Par ailleurs, la commission de discipline de la LNF a décidé, aussi, de prononcer une sanction de trois matches contre l’entraîneur de l’ESS Smaïl Messaoud alors que Delhoum et Ziaya ont écopé d’un match de suspension pour contestation de décision.

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La JSK terminera la saison à huis clos :
Quatre matches de suspension contre Hannachi

JS Kabylie penalised for fan hooliganism at MCA match

May 12, 2009 -- JS Kabylie will end the Algerian championship season without their fans, following a decision on Monday (May 11th) by National Football League officials to penalise the club with two closed-door matches, El Watan reported on Monday (May 11th). The penalty stems from JSK fans' behaviour during the recent 1-1 draw with MCA.