Kidus Giorgis have the bragging right of the Sheger Derby after winning their duel in the 12th Addis Ababa City Cup final against Ethiopia Bunna 1-0 courtesy goal from Ivorian Ibrahima Fofana. Apart from the game, scene of hooliganism has hit the stadium at the half time break as both sets of fans were seen throwing chairs and objects leaving the second interval to kick off late.
The encounter witnessed few scoring chances and many misplaced passes. Nigerian import Samuel Sanumi came very close to open the scoring 19 minutes after the onset when his shot inside the area sailed inches wide of the post. Match official Tewodros waved on a penalty claim by Asechalew Girma minutes later.
in the 44th minute Abebaw Butako’s long pass found Fofana who slot home to give Kidus Giorgis the lead when the former Asec Mimosas winger capitalizes on Beninese Ethiopia Bunna’s custodian Hariston Hessou blunder. Fofana who previously piled his trade in Tunisia struck all of the goals in the 11th and 12th edition of Addis Ababa City Cup final.
During the break fighting broke out between both rival fans in Katanga section of the Addis Ababa Stadium. Fans were seen throwing chairs and objects while police were finding it hard to contain the situation. While the police were busy with making buffer zone between the rival fans, the second half kick started late.
The second half saw relatively a better game than the first but still goal attempts were in scares. Hariston called to action when he parried away a goal bound Abebaw Butako free kick. Abubakher Sanni heads wide as Kidus Giorgis seek to double the lead in the 59th minute. In the 71st minute second half substitute Aklilu Walelegn saw his header sailing over the bar. In the 78th minute the game was yet again halted for a few minutes as fans were seen throwing objects into the pitch.
The Sheger Derby oftentimes attracts a huge crowd; nonetheless the quality of football during the much anticipated derby is declining year after year. Hooliganism in a tie that has no meaning apart from assessing the strong and weak links of teams before the season opener is jeopardizing the already deteriorating state of football in Ethiopia.
Kidus Giorgis crowned champions of the Addis Ababa City Cup for a record fifth time. Debutant Jimma Aba Jifar defeated last year’s champions Ethio-Electric 1-0 in the third place playoff. Samson Kolecha struck the lone goal following the resumption.
The Addis Ababa City Cup, organized by the Addis Ababa Football Federation, attracted two 8 clubs, 6 clubs from the capital and 2 guest teams. According to official data from the Federation more than 140,000 spectators watch the tourney while collecting more than 3.6 million Birr as revenue.
Player of the Tournament: Abdulkerim Nikima (Kidus Giorgis)
Top Goal Scorers: Samuel Sanumi (Ethiopia Bunna), Samson Kolecha (Jimma Aba Jifar) both with 3 goals
Goal of the Tournament: Wendifraw Getahun (Ethiopia Bunna) for his goal against Addis Ababa Ketema
Coach of the Tournament: Manuel Vaz Pinto (Kidus Giorgis)
