League Play-Off

Melbourne Stadium
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Karim Madouni made the kick off and thus started the match. Madhi Belkhadem was astounded when the referee showed him the red card after a seemingly innocent challenge, 4 minutes into the match. 4 minutes into the game, one of Needles:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. With a little luck, Needles's Ismael Merzekane got control of the ball when Salim Yahia tried to sneak it across the goal line. Ismael Merzekane acted impressively in front of the goal and made a superb save when he, in the 13th minute, took the ball on the long shot from Yacine Bella. 14 minutes into the game, Karim Madouni was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Needles's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Melbourne FC the free kick. In the 15th match minute, Needles was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Karim Madouni to maneuver through the defense. Salim Yahia fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 17th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ismael Merzekane having to interfere. Salim Yahia received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 22nd minute. Ismael Merzekane tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Ahmed Benhamou might have been able to make a better finish in the 28th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Ali Saïdi-Sief. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Ahmed Benhamou ran back to his position shaking his head. In the 29th minute, Mohamed Khendu hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Tedj Makkeb, 30 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. In the 31st minute, Needles's goalie took a deep sigh of relief after Salim Yahia fired away a hard shot that went just outside the left post. Salim Yahia fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 35th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ismael Merzekane having to interfere. When Ahmed Benhamou came up free with the goalie in the 37th minute, the Needles 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 Ahmed Benhamou couldn't finish the play. Ahmed Benhamou scored 0-1 in the 39th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Ali Saïdi-Sief, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 0-1 lead.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Salim Yahia was the one to do the kick off. If Salim Yahia had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 56th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Ahmed Benhamou received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 57th minute. Ali Saïdi-Sief tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 73rd minute, Salim Yahia managed to get in a good position for a shot. Melbourne FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Salim Yahia was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Ismael Merzekane breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Yacine Bella's late challenge caught a Needles's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Yacine Bella helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to Melbourne FC getting a freekick after 81 minutes play. Yacine Bella hit a great ball. Ahmed Benhamou succeeded to score despite a near miss that spronge from right pole into the goal to 0-2 in the 83rd playminute. When Noureddine Temmam came up free with the goalie in the 88th minute, the Melbourne FC 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 Noureddine Temmam couldn't finish the play. Salim Yahia received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 90th minute. Ismael Merzekane tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Needles's Ismael Merzekane played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Salim Yahia in the 94th minute of play.