League

Fullerton
Spectators: 6712 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1712, VIP seats: 0) Middleburg Heights's Karim Nekkar started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. The audience was convinced that Karim Nekkar's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Walid Taha was relentless in the 10th minute of the game. If Karim Nekkar had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 15th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Mansour Saïdi-Sief in the 17th minute of play forced Fullerton AFC's goalkeeper Walid Taha to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Belmadi Sennaoui made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mourad Bridji in the 19th minute of play. Mansour Saïdi-Sief sent away a hard shot on goal in the 21st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. When Souad Akrour came up free with the goalie in the 28th minute, the Fullerton AFC fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Souad Akrour couldn't finish the play. 31 minutes into the match, Mansour Saïdi-Sief notched a goal, 0-1, to the right of Fullerton AFC's Walid Taha. Walid Taha was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. In the 37th minute Cheikha Benhamou shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Walid Taha saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Belmadi Sennaoui made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mourad Bridji in the 40th minute of play. 41 minutes in the game, Souad Akrour fired away an excellent shot, which passed to the side of the right post without Belmadi Sennaoui having to interfere. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-1 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Mourad Bridji made a kick off. 51 minutes into the match, Karim Nekkar had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Walid Taha. Fullerton AFC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Karim Nekkar was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-2. In the 60th minute, Salah Yacine hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Mansour Saïdi-Sief fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 67th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Walid Taha having to interfere. 73 minutes into the match, Middleburg Heights's Mansour Saïdi-Sief sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Walid Taha narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Mourad Bridji received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 75th minute. Belmadi Sennaoui tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 77th minute Souad Akrour shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Belmadi Sennaoui saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Thanks to some nice moves Mansour Saïdi-Sief could shoot a difficult shot in the 81st minute, which Walid Taha however easily saved by the left post. Walid Taha made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Karim Nekkar in the 82nd minute of play. In the 84th minute of the match Middleburg Heights got a corner. Fullerton AFC's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Zoheir Sami Yachir ran over to the corner to take the kick. In the 86th minute Mourad Bridji shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Belmadi Sennaoui saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. The Middleburg Heights supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Middleburg Heights would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.