By FRANCO PANIZO
West Bromwich Albion got one step closer to assuring automatic promotion back into the Premiership next season with a win against Leicester City this weekend, and the club can partially thank Robert Koren for that.
Koren scored the final two goals in a 3-0 West Brom win that saw the club extend its point lead to 12 over third-place Nottingham Forest (the lead is now 11 after games were played on Monday). The Slovenian midfielder knocked in a rebound just before the end of the first half, and then scored his fifth goal of the season by getting on the end of a pass, rounding opposing goalkeeper Chris Weale and easily slotting the ball home from close range.
Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic also had a notable outing, posting a surprise cleansheet victory over Juventus. Handanovic made six saves en route to his eighth shutout of the year, and the 3-0 win gave Udinese some breathing room from the tight relegation battle in Serie A.
It was another relatively subpar weekend for the Algerians Abroad, as one of the bigger stories was how three of the country's top players continued to nurse injuries. A variety of nicks caused Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra and Portsmouth duo Nadir Belhadj (defender) and Hassan Yebda (midfielder) to miss this weekend's action.
Here is how the Algerians and Slovenians Abroad did this weekend:
ALGERIA
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
- Defender Nadir Belhadj did not dress in Portsmouth's 0-0 draw vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. He is recovering from a groin injury.
- Midfielder Hassan Yebda did not dress in Portsmouth's 0-0 draw vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Forward Kamel Ghilas did not dress in Hull City's 2-0 loss vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP
- Forward Hameur Bouazza came off the bench and played 26 minutes in Blackpool's 4-2 win vs. Scunthorpe United on Friday, and started and played 65 minutes in a 2-0 win vs. Doncaster Rovers on Monday.
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
- Defender Madjid Bougherra did not dress in Rangers' 1-0 win vs. Hamilton Academical on Saturday. He is recovering from a hamstring injury.
- Defender Ismael Bouzid did not dress in Heart of Midlothian's 1-1 draw vs. St Mirren on Saturday.
SPANISH LA LIGA
- Midfielder Mehdi Lacen came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Racing Santander's 2-0 loss vs. Real Madrid on Sunday.
ITALIAN SERIE A
- Midfielder Abdelkader Ghezzal started and played 90 minutes in Siena's 2-0 loss vs. Atalanta on Saturday.
- Midfielder Mourad Meghni did not dress in Lazio's 1-1 draw vs. Napoli on Saturday.
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
- Defender Antar Yahia started and played 90 minutes in VfL Bochum's 1-1 draw vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
- Midfielder Karim Matmour started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 2-1 loss vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
- Midfielder Karim Ziani did not dress in VfL Wolfsburg's 4-0 win vs. TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday.
- Forward Chadli Amri came off the bench and played 53 minutes in Mainz 05's 2-0 loss vs. Nurnberg on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Forward Noureddine Daham did not dress in TUS Koblenz's 2-1 win vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday.
FRENCH LIGUE 1
- Midfielder Yazid Mansouri came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Lorient's 2-1 win vs. Grenoble on Saturday.
PORTUGUESE LIGA SAGRES
- Defender Rafik Halliche did not dress in CD Nacional de Madeira's 1-0 win vs. Leixoes on Friday.
GREEK SUPER LEAGUE
- Forward Rafik Djebbour and AEK Athens did not play this weekend.
- Midfielder Salim Arrache and PAS Giannina did not play this weekend.
SLOVENIA
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP
- Defender Suad Filekovic did not dress in Barnsley's 0-0 draw vs. Sheffield United on Saturday, and did not dress in a 2-2 draw vs. Peterborough United on Monday.
- Midfielder Robert Koren started, played 90 minutes and scored two GOALS in West Bromwich Albion's 3-0 win vs. Leicester City on Friday, and started and played 80 minutes in a 1-1 draw vs. Watford on Monday.
ITALIAN SERIE A
- Goalkeeper Samir Handanovic started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Udinese's 3-0 win vs. Juventus on Saturday.
- Defender Bojan Jokic did not dress in Chievo Verona's 2-1 loss vs. Sampdoria on Saturday.
GERMAN BUNDESLIGA
- Forward Milivoje Novakovic started and played 45 minutes in FC Cologne's 3-0 loss vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
- Defender Miso Brecko started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Cologne's 3-0 loss vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
- Forward Zlatko Dedic started and played 79 minutes in VfL Bochum's 1-1 draw vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Defender Matej Mavric started and played 90 minutes in TUS Koblenz's 2-1 win vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday.
- Midfielder Goran Sukalo did not dress in FC Augsburg's 1-1 draw vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Sunday.
FRENCH LIGUE 1
- Defender Bostjan Cesar did not dress in Grenoble's 2-1 loss vs. Lorient on Saturday. He was suspended due to the two yellow cards he received last week.
- Forward Valter Birsa started and played 75 minutes in AJ Auxerre's 1-1 draw vs. Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
DUTCH EREDIVISIE
- Midfielder Dalibor Stevanovic did not dress in Vitesse Arnhem's 3-0 win vs. FC Groningen on Saturday.
PORTUGUESE LIGA SAGRES
- Midfielder Nejc Pecknik started and played 90 minutes in CD Nacional de Madeira's 1-0 win vs. Leixoes on Friday.
GREEK SUPER LEAGUE
- Midfielder Aleksander Radosavljevic and Larissa did not play this weekend.
- Midfielder Mirnes Sisic and PAS Giannina did not play this weekend.
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What do you think of these performances? Any player(s) you're particularly worried about? Think Koren can cause problems for the U.S. midfield/backline (and that he looks like a Slovenian Sacha Kljestan, at least in the photo above)? Surprised Handanovic kept Juventus at bay? Starting to think Algeria is just as unlucky as the U.S., with injuries currently sidelining Belhadj, Bougherra and Yebda?
Share your thoughts below.
Very cool feature. Thanks.
I think you’re spot on. I saw most of Algeria’s games in the African Cup, and I was thoroughly unimpressed. Excepting the Ivory Coast game, they created absolutely nothing in five games, scoring a single goal on a laughably defended set-piece. The key to advancing really will be the Slovenia game.
Also, anyone know the latest word on the possible Algerian suspensions?
I watched the Algeria-Serbia game recently at a cafe close to my place (I dont mind games where I dont know the language because it breaks from the brainwashing of the EPL we are force fed. Strange as it may seem to some, there are other countries that play soccer) and I was very, very unimpressed by the Algerian team that lost 3-0 at home against a serb defence that was missing Vidic and Ivanovic.
I gave them a pass at the African cup because of the national insanity that reigns when they play egypt but I shouldnt have: they have problems between the ears and seem to champion their fans delusional conspiracies. Mental breakdowns happen too often to be called a coincidence (the game before the meltdown against egypt, the goalie did a rabona from in front of his goal barely sending it over two opponents, in overtime).
Against the serbs, they proved incapable of sustained attacks, tactically abused and with frequent mental lapses.
One or two players stood out but no one that we should be worried about.
Their goalkeeping is a mess with an older injured goalie, the rabona kicking mental midget and some young kids.
At the end of the game, I felt very good about playing them this summer. The Algerians at the bar came out with a litany of excuses for this pathetic showing at home that rivaled the ones from the Afr.Cup.
And the list is very interesting when you notice that most of the team is either on the bench or not even dressed.
I worry more about Slovenians than Algeria.
I hope these Algerians continue to have problems and not play.
This Koren dude looks pretty solid but if their best player is just a star in the championship, it gives me alot of confidence. where are players play and play regularly is much better than most of theirs (some are on very solid teams but never play)
The goalie in the picture reminds me of a scene from the Matrix.