A three goal surge in the first half helped CR Belouizdad to an eventual 2-4 road victory over USM Alger and ultimately to the league title in Algeria’s Ligue 1 Professionnelle on Saturday. With only one loss in league play from May through this weekend, CRB marched back from a substantial point deficit caused by their participation in the CAF Champions League knockout stage to catch up to ES Sétif and wrestle the lead back in the final stretch as Les Aigles Noirs struggled with their form. The title is Le Grand Chabab’s 8th league championship.
CRB had put themselves into good shape with a five point lead as two matches remained before clashing with rivals USM Alger on Saturday, so the emphasis was placed on getting the job done with attacking football early. A fearless approach served the visitors well as leading scorer Amir Sayoud provided a composed finish in the penalty area to get the scoring started after only eleven minutes. Hichem Khalfallah put away a rebound from close range on thirty minutes before Sayoud popped up again with his excellent left foot to put the match out of reach on the stroke of halftime.
USMA created a faint hope of coming back when defender Abderrahim Hamra volleyed in following a corner kick to get their opening goal in the 60th minute. However, those hopes were quickly extinguished when Houssem Mrezigue arrived at the far post to score off CRB’s own corner kick, an excellent time for the 21-year-old to tally his first goal of the season. USMA got another back late but the result was already a certainty for CRB and star player Sayoud, who is now tied at the top of the scoring chart with Saoura’s Billel Messaoudi at 18 goals with one more match to play.
Video of the goals from the match are below.
