USMA returns with a valuable victory over Tizi Ouzou

Ittihad Al-Capital achieved a valuable victory over its host, JS Kabylie, in a late confrontation in the first round of the First Professional League Championship.

The two teams faced off on the field of the late Mujahid Hussein Ait Ahmed stadium in Tizi Ouzou on Monday evening.

The Capital Union raised its score of points to 18, rising to fourth place in the overall standings.

While JS Kabylie’s score froze at point 15, ranked ninth.

Bin Sheikha outperforms Zinnbauer

Al-Ittihad coach Abdelhak Ben Sheikha tactically outperformed his German counterpart Joseph Zinnbauer.

Bin Sheikha restrained his opponent with a 3-5-2 plan, where he relied on the duo Houssam El Din Ghesha and Ahmed Khalidi to lead counterattacks.

While the defense trio, Adam Alilat, Hussein Dhiri, and Cameroonian Che Malone, were responsible for monitoring Ayman Mahyous, Abdelaziz Hamri, and Bilal Masoudi.

The midfield of JS Kabylie, consisting of Babacar Sarr, Mehdi Marghem and Mehdi Boudjemaa, appeared. Unable to provide the attackers with the necessary balls during the first half.

The full-backs, Reda Hamidi and Fares, did not find the necessary space, as Ilyas Shetty and Saadi Radwani from Al-Ittihad put pressure on them to prevent them from sending crosses towards Mahyous.

With Ittihad Al-Masdar controlling the midfield, the players began looking to build organized attacks, one of which culminated in Khalidi opening the scoring in the 42nd minute.

At the beginning of the second half, Zinnbauer made three changes, bringing in Riad Boudbouz, Ahmed Maamri and Arthur Bada in place of Boudjemaa, Nashat and Sarr.

The “Canary” performance improved as it gradually returned to possession of the ball.

While the fans of the late Mujahid Stadium, Hussein Ait Ahmed, were waiting for their team to score the equalizer, the opposite happened and Ghesha surprised everyone by signing the second goal.

The striker asked for the ball from his colleague Khalidi behind the backs of defenders Zinedine Belaid and Mohamed Lamine Madani, so that it reached him at the right time and he shot it directly into the net of goalkeeper Gaia Merbah.

The shot required the intervention of the video technology room, which indicated an offside situation, which was announced by referee Taher Boudjemaa to cancel the goal.

The decision revived the spirit of the JS Kabylie players, who then rose up and were able to score the equalizing goal through former Al-Ittihad striker Ayman Mahyous, who benefited from a pass from full-back Hamidi inside the penalty area.

The locals threw all their weight to keep the three points in Tizi Ouzou, as Zinnbauer played all his offensive cards (Lahlou Akhraib and Malki Walid).

This was not enough to overthrow a competitor who played an excellent match, and knew how to seize the second goal from a corner kick followed by Congolese Glodie Likunza in the 79th minute.