For his very first start in the most prestigious club competition, Anis Hadj-Moussa became, on Tuesday evening, only the fourth Algerian to be named “Man of the Match” in the UEFA Champions League.
A distinction which crowns a perfectly successful month of November. In just twenty days, everything accelerated for the young native of Paris (22 years old). From a simple substitute, certainly capable of some flashes but not really known for his consistency, Hadj-Moussa has become the most visible element of Feyenoord Rotterdam, both in the championship and in the European Cup. He had already given the impression that he was turning a corner by becoming a starter, for the first time this season, during a trip to face Almere City in the Eredivisie. First tenure and first big sensation. Scorer against Almere during the overwhelming victory away from the Rotterdam club (1-4) on November 10, before the FIFA international break, he did it again then by showing himself decisive from his return to the Netherlands on the occasion of the success against Heerenveen (3-0).
Scorer on each start
The highlight was there: Only twice in 12 Eredivisie days and a scorer each time! His coach, the Dane Brian Priske could not, therefore, ignore such a truth on the ground, even less, break the beautiful dynamic started by recalling him to the bench on the occasion of this prestigious poster at the Etihad Stadium, at Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. It was a good thing for him since his Algerian winger proved him entirely right by scoring his third goal in as many successive matches. Hadj-Moussa is now two goals in four Champions League matches this season in just 178 minutes. The matter was, however, very complicated at the start of the second period, since the English were three points ahead, the result of the double from the Swedish giant Haaland (44′ and 53′) and the deviated recovery of Gündogan at 50′. Entering, for his part, in the 68th minute to replace Milambo, the other Algerian international from Feyenoord will, moreover, witness this crazy comeback initiated by his young compatriot from the 75′.
Priske no longer deprives himself of it
On a poorly cleared ball by the Manchester City defense, the Algerian international appeared, in fact, to dribble past the Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson and score from the right from a practically closed angle. By reducing the score to a quarter of an hour before the final whistle, the Feyenoord winger sounded the revolt of the Dutch who added, in this crazy end to the match, two other goals, first by Gimenez in the 82′ then by Hancko in the 89′. Opposed in his area of the field to Matheus Nunes and Gvardiol, Anis, moreover, managed to shoot twice on goal and managed 2 dribbles for a total of 10.5 kilometers of distance covered. UEFA statistics even showed a sprint to
32.1 km/h. Hadj-Moussa, however, did almost no defensive work since he neither recovered any ball nor played the slightest duel in the Feyenoord area, only clearing the ball once.
“Glad, that was good…”
On the other hand, in his favorite zone, Hadj-Moussa succeeded in 78% of his 18 passes attempted through his 31 balls touched. Questioned as he left the field, trophy in hand, the shy striker remained very humble, not showing any particular emotion. “I’m happy, we played well. We applied the coach’s instructions and did what he asked us to do, el hamdoulilah,” he was content to respond laconically to the microphone of the official broadcaster of the premier competition in Europe, before adding: “C It was very difficult to take a point away from Manchester City. We didn’t relax or give up on the match. We played well and left nothing to chance throughout the ninety minutes. We achieved something exceptional and obtained this point from a draw.” A tiny speech, almost simplistic, which, however, underlines a performance in capital letters which invites him to sit at the table of Riyad Mahrez, Ismaïl Bennacer and Houssem Aouar, the only ones of his compatriots to have obtained such individual distinction stamped UEFA.
– RACHID BELARB
