League Play-Off

West Athens Park
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Marco AFC's Abdelnasser Gaouaoui 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. Djamal Saadane fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 3rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Nabil El-Ouafi having to interfere. West Athens AFC's Hamza Gaouaoui played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Menad Fillali in the 8th minute of play. After a rather tough play, West Athens AFC's Mohamed Boulebda got a free kick in the 8th minute. In the 15th minute, West Athens AFC's Mohammed Ahmed Ben Merah seemed to kick out at an opponent. The referee saw this and, surprisingly, showed Mohammed Ahmed Ben Merah the red card, dismissing him from the pitch. The coaching staff of West Athens AFC protested bitterly, but the referee would have none of it, and Mohammed Ahmed Ben Merah had no choice but to slowly walk off the pitch. The referee gave Marco AFC a penalty, 17 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Bouzid Bensaïd, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of West Athens AFC's Hamza Gaouaoui. 0-1. After having played for 20 minutes, Menad Fillali managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Marco AFC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Menad Fillali was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. After 22 played minutes West Athens AFC got a freekick which was hit by Mohamed Boulebda. After 23 minutes, Abdel Yahi mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the West Athens AFC and the Marco AFC players grew even worse after the yellow card. After some fancy dribbling in the 29th minute, Abdelnasser Gaouaoui managed to get in a good position for a shot. Marco AFC's supporters rose to their feet, but Abdelnasser Gaouaoui was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Hamza Gaouaoui breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Hamza Gaouaoui showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Abdelnasser Gaouaoui in the 31st minute of the match. If Djamal Saadane had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 32nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Mohamed Boulebda who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 35thth minute tested the skills of Nabil El-Ouafi when he managed to save the team from getting behind. After having played for 36 minutes, Djamal Saadane managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. West Athens AFC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Djamal Saadane was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 42nd minute, Djamal Saadane ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Nabil El-Ouafi was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-2. After 47 minutes of play, Marco AFC's Abdelnasser Gaouaoui made it 1-3 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Hamza Gaouaoui was left in no man's land by his defense there!

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Djamal Saadane to make the kick off. Hamza Gaouaoui made a fantastic save in the 53rd minute, when Yazid Deghmani sent off a good shot on target. In the 55th minute, Abdelnasser Gaouaoui 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. A collision led to Marco AFC getting a freekick after 60 minutes play. Zīn ud-Dīn Besseghir hit a great ball. Hamza Gaouaoui showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Abdelnasser Gaouaoui, who was totally free with the ball in the 62nd minute. After a defensive mix-up in Marco AFC's zone, Mohamed Boulebda stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Nabil El-Ouafi came out of the goal and Mohamed Boulebda tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Abdelnasser Gaouaoui received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Hamza Gaouaoui came out and tried to block the shot, but Abdelnasser Gaouaoui slotted it home off the left post making it 1-4 in the 70th minute. Djamal Saadane received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 74th minute. Nabil El-Ouafi tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Mohamed Boulebda struck a weak shot in the 76th minute. Nabil El-Ouafi didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for West Athens AFC. When the match clock showed 79 minutes, the score became 1-5 when Abdelnasser Gaouaoui sped through West Athens AFC's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Hamza Gaouaoui. West Athens AFC's Hamza Gaouaoui played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Abdelnasser Gaouaoui in the 88th minute of play. Yazid Deghmani struck a weak shot in the 89th minute. Hamza Gaouaoui didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Marco AFC. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. Marco AFC walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.