Stroudsburg
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000,
Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Ismaël Oussalah started the match with the kick off. If Karim Matoub had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 4th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 8 minutes into the match, Waterloo's Souad Saïd-Guerni sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Mohammed Khabatou narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Jean-Michel Macias was extremely unlucky when he, in the 10th minute, took a shot that hit the right post and went out. The audience was convinced that Ismaël Oussalah's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Ismaël Bitat was relentless in the 13th minute of the game. In the 20th match minute, Waterloo was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Souad Saïd-Guerni to maneuver through the defense. After a defensive mix-up in Waterloo's zone, Jean-Michel Macias stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Ismaël Bitat came out of the goal and Jean-Michel Macias tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Ismaël Bitat made an important save on a dangerous shot by Jean-Michel Macias in the 23rd minute. In the 26thth minute of the game Ismaël Oussalah who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Waterloo's Ismaël Bitat was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. 27 minutes into the match, Madhi Larfaoui had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Mohammed Khabatou. Stroudsburg's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Madhi Larfaoui was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. The supporters of Waterloo booed when Stroudsburg was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 31 match minutes in a wonderful position. Nasreddine Benzine didn't get a good kick on the ball. Ali Amri recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 32nd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. 34 minutes into the game, Fadel Ghozali recieved a splendid long ball, split the defenders, and gently placed the ball to the left of Ismaël Bitat. Fadel Ghozali showed that you don't have to tear a hole in the net to score, 1-1. With a little luck, Waterloo's Ismaël Bitat got control of the ball when Karim Matoub tried to sneak it across the goal line. 39 minutes into the game, Kassel Ahmed was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Waterloo's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Stroudsburg the free kick. The supporters of Stroudsburg booed when Waterloo was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 39 match minutes in a wonderful position. Kassel Ahmed didn't get a good kick on the ball. Ismaël Oussalah received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 41st minute. Ismaël Bitat tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 47thth minute of the game Ismaël Oussalah who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Waterloo's Ismaël Bitat was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.
In the 51st minute, Karim Matoub got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Ismaël Bitat made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Ismaël Oussalah in the 52nd minute of play. Ismaël Bitat took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Jean-Michel Macias, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Salim El-Ouafi sent away a hard shot on goal in the 57th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 65th minute, Karim Matoub got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. When Ismaël Oussalah came up free with the goalie in the 66th minute, the Stroudsburg 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 Ismaël Oussalah couldn't finish the play. Salim El-Ouafi made in the 69th minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by Waterloo's Mustapha Ammour. In the 69th minute Ismaël Oussalah shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ismaël Bitat saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Ismaël Oussalah took the ball and in the 69 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Ismaël Bitat. Ismaël Bitat dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-1. After 73 played minutes Waterloo got a freekick which was hit by Kassel Ahmed. Ismaël Bitat stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Ismaël Oussalah's shot from short distance in the 78th minute. Ismaël Bitat made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Jean-Michel Macias in the 79th minute of play. Ismaël Bitat made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Karim Matoub in the 86th minute of play. Belmadi Yacef fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 87th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ismaël Bitat having to interfere. After having played for 89 minutes, Salim El-Ouafi managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Stroudsburg's supporters crossed their fingers, but Salim El-Ouafi was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Madhi Larfaoui in the 90th minute of play forced Stroudsburg's goalkeeper Mohammed Khabatou to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Stroudsburg's Karim Matoub got a good chance for a goal in the 92nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Ismaël Bitat made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Karim Matoub in the 94th minute of play. 97 minutes into the match, Jean-Michel Macias notched a goal, 3-1, to the right of Waterloo's Ismaël Bitat. Ismaël Bitat was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. When the referee ended the match the Stroudsburg players were able to celebrate. They had won a fair victory and recieved the ovations of their fans.
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