Monrovia – William Jerbo’s Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) are away to FUS Rabat in continuation of Morocco’s Botola Professional League at the Stade Moulay Abdallah in Rabat on December 24.
Report by Danesius Marteh, [email protected]
WAC are second on the table with 27 points, one adrift of Difaa El Jadidi, having won seven and drawn six with 23 goals for and 11 against from 13 matches.
FUS are eighth-placed with 16 points, having won four, drawn four and lost five with 13 goals for and 13 goals against from 13 matches.
They have lost two and won three of their last five league games but have beaten WAC in their last three encounters (0-1, 1-0 and 3-1). WAC last beat FUS 4-2 at home on September 28, 2014.
WAC, who have drawn their last five league games, scoring in all but one, will rely on Jerbo.
The Liberia international has scored nine goals in eight matches, including an 85th minute penalty when WAC drew 1-1 away to Hassania Agadir on December 11.
Karim El Berkaoui equalized in the 88 minute while WAC’s Anas Mrabet was red-carded in the 64th minute.
Jerbo scored in the 78th minute when WAC were held to a 1-1 draw away to Berkane on December 7.
Burkina Faso’s Issoufou Dayo scored an 88th minute equalizer.
Jerbo produced a man-of-match performance when WAC came from a two-goal down to draw 2-2 with IR Tanger on December 3.
Ahmed Hamoudane scored in the 11th minute and Abdelghani Mouaoui increased the tally seven minutes later as Tanger took a two goal lead but Jerbo hauled WAC back in the 27th and 37th (penalty) minutes.
Tanger’s Gakr El Helali was red-carded in the 75th minute.
Jerbo scored a 90th winner when WAC beat Kasba Tadla 1-0 on November 19 and in the 64th minute to hand WAC a 2-1 victory at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca on November 1.
Morocco international Yassine Salhi scored a 78th minute consolation after teammate Ismail El Haddad gave WAC a 42nd minute lead.
Jerbo scored an 87th minute penalty when WAC beat FAR Rabat 5-0 away on October 23 and in the 3-1 win over Chabab Atlas Khenifra on October 20.
He scored in the 68th minute in a 3-2 win away to Olympique Khouribga on October 1.
Jerbo, who joined WAC on loan from Portugal’s Rio Ave on June 30, scored a brace (13, 45+1 minutes) in a 5-2 victory over Zamalek in the 2016 Caf Champions League second leg semi-final on September 24 in Rabat.
He made his debut for WAC in a 4-0 defeat to Zamalek in the first leg at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Egypt on September 16.
Jerbo was among a 30-man shortlist for the Caf player of the year award, which will be given at a gala on January 5, 2017 in Abuja, Nigeria.
He was also among a 25-man shortlist for the Caf player of the year award based in Africa, which was released on October 15 and also given in Nigeria.
Jerbo scored five goals during Liberia’s failed 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers in Group A.
He scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Djibouti at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium (ATS) in Monrovia on March 29.
Jerbo scored in the 2-1 defeat to Togo in Lomé on June 14, 2015 and in the 2-2 draw with Togo at the ATS on June 5.
Benin’s Stéphane Sessègnon, Congo Brazzaville’s Férébory Doré and Burundi’s Fiston Abdul Razak also scored five goals respectively.
Algeria’s El Arabi Hillel Soudani topped the chart with seven goals, one more than Ethiopia’s Getaneh Kebede.
Jerbo scored four goals during Liberia’s failed 2018 World Cup qualifiers, including a hat-trick against Guinea Bissau on October 13, 2015 in Bissau.
He scored from the penalty when Liberia drew the first leg 1-1 at the ATS on October 8.
Jerbo jointly leads the chart on four goals with Algeria’s Islam Slimani, Niger’s Moussa Mazou, Burundi’s Fiston and Uganda’s Farouk Miya.