MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia’s first division side Monrovia Club Breweries continued to show their prowess after convincingly beating Algerian top tier club JS Kabylie 3-0 in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup Preliminary round played at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium on Feb. 10.
The Beer Boys went against all odds to defeat a team that was considered as favorite. The experience and advanced level of the Algerian top tier team did not detract the Breweries from proving that determination is key to success.
Goals from Matis Mulbah, Benjamin Sackor, and Nicholas Andrew were enough to hand Club Breweries a comfortable 3-0 win over their Algerian counterpart.
Playing against an experienced side, the 2016-17 Liberia Knock-out Cup winners began the match on a high note by preventing their opponents from winning early possession. They came close to getting an early goal in the seventh minute through Mulbah, whose header was sent wide over the cross bar by opponent goalkeeper, Asselah Malek for a corner.
However, JS Kabylie re-organized and kept Club Breweries under pressure in a search for an opening goal. The North Africans nearly found the back of the net in the 15th minute when Club Breweries goalkeeper, Mohammed Koulibaly, tried dribbling Kabylie’s forward, Mehdi Benaldjia but instead, gave the ball away.
Benaldjia squandered the chance as he shot the ball wide off target. Five minutes after missing out on their first chance, Kabylie got a second opening through Youcef Zergline, who also failed to score after he was brilliantly denied by Koulibaly.
The Algerians kept their pace as Club Breweries struggled to contain the pressure. They always looked classic in attack but struggled to get past a tiny Breweries defense that never derailed from the fight to avoid conceding a goal.
Despite Breweries’ hard work in defense, Kabylie got a third chance at goal in the 27th minute but were held off by Mohammed Koulibaly, who was exceptional in the goal for the Liberian side.
Mohammed Koulibaly of Club Breweries. Photo: T. Kla Wesley Jr.
Breweries may have been under pressure but a sturdy defense kept out the Algerians for most of the half where it went 0-0 at the break.
Breweries learned from first half errors and returned stronger with more confidence in the second and thirteen minutes into the last half, they set the stadium at blaze with the first goal of the match.
Mulbah punished Kabylie’s goalkeeper, Asselah Malek, for an error after he came out to save a cross from Benjamin Sackor, but instead missed the ball as it dropped behind him. Mulbah made no mistake and struck from six yards to get the match opener.
The goal gave Club Breweries confidence and they started to look more relaxed. With a goal in hand, the Liberian side kept on pushing in hopes of getting another. Home fans were jubilant and roared in support of Club Breweries. The cheers grew louder after the home side added a second goal of the match in the 79th minute.
Kabylie’s shot stopper, Malek, was once again the center of blame after giving out the ball to Sackor in an attempt to dribble the fast moving attacker. Malek lost the ball and Sackor had a clear chance to easily put the ball into an open net for a second goal.
JS Kabylie’s Asselah Malek. Photo: T. Kla Wesley Jr.
With less than 20 minutes to play, the score was still 2-0 and there was little to no doubt that Breweries would at least end the match with a point but the Algerians failed to make use of their limited chances in the second half as they were unable to register a goal.
With time running down, Breweries maintained its determination and kept attacking until the team scored a third goal in the first of the three minutes of extra time.
After collecting a ball from Benjamin Sackor, Nickolas Andrew scored with a beautiful right foot chip. The substitute attacker struck the ball at the top right corner of Kabylie’s goal, leaving Malek with no chance of stopping the ball.
The return leg is scheduled for the Feb. 19th and Breweries have to avoid conceding four goals to reach the second round.
Featured photo by T. Kla Wesley Jr.
