Three games on the weekend in Algeria saw its top teams battling for positions on the Ligue 1 Professionnelle table Friday and Saturday. ES Sétif, fresh off being eliminated from the CAF Confederation Cup last week, bounced back with a 0-1 road victory over strugglers Skikda to maintain their status as league leaders. Capital-based sides MC Alger and USM Alger also turned in victories to each move into the top-8.
Yasser Berbache tallied his second goal of the season to lift Sétif to their victory on Saturday, his header just getting over the goal line in the 18th minute to make the difference. Sétif increased their league lead to six points thanks to the result, earning the title of winners of the first half of the season.
CR Belouizdad’s up-and-down season sees them struggle to find consistency, and a 1-0 home loss to USM Alger will not help their league form. USMA’s Zakaria Benchaa made an excellent run and was able to steer a spinning finish past CRB goalkeeper Toufik Moussaoui in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time for a dramatic winner to boost USMA’s unbeaten streak to four matches.
MC Alger’s match had a little bit of suspense, but Samy Friouli put the hosts into the lead in the 59th minute and started a four-goal onslaught to push MCA over Magra by a 5-1 scoreline. Friouli added two more goals in that span to make it a second-half hat trick for the former AEL Larissa marksman. MCA fans will be hoping the large margin of victory can ignite the team’s lagging season heading into the second half.
Highlights from all three games are below.
Skikda 0-1 ES Sétif
MC Alger 5-1 Magra
CR Belouizdad 0-1 USM Alger
