Club Africain was temporarily able to occupy the top spot in the Tunisian Professional League, after drawing with US Monastir in the 25th round summit match that brought together the two teams on Saturday.
At Ben Jannat Stadium in Monastir, Africain was unable to achieve its fifth consecutive victory in the league, but settled for a draw point, which gave it a lead over Esperance, its former partner at the top, by one point. The match witnessed a distinguished technical performance, especially by the African side, but the brilliance of Monastir goalkeeper Abdel Salam Halawi prevented the visitors from returning with the three points.
The two teams exchanged control of the course of play in the two halves of the match, but the most dangerous chances went to Firas Chaouat, Bilal Ait Malek and Oussama Bougherra from Club Africain, who threatened the hosts’ goal until the last moments, but to no avail.
Substitute “Osama Bougherra” had the most dangerous opportunity in the match, when he received a perfect pass from “Firas Shawat” inside the penalty area, but his ball passed just over the crossbar, before referee “Hosni Al-Naili” announced the end of the match in a goalless draw.
With this result, Africain raised its score to 55 points at the top, one point ahead of Esperance, knowing that it played one more match than its competitor.
On the other hand, Monastir maintained its fifth position with 39 points from 25 matches.
In another match within the same round, Etoile du Sahel suffered a surprising 3-1 loss against its host, Olympique Beji, which reduced its chances of participating in African competitions next season.
“Osama Obaid” opened the scoring for the star in the first half, but the Baji players responded with three full goals, raising their score to 25 points in thirteenth place, which strengthened their hopes of remaining in the league.
As for Etoile du Sahel, its score froze at 34 points in sixth place, after suffering its eighth defeat this season.
At the Bardo Stadium, the Tunisian Stadium tied with the Bizertin Club with a goal for each. Yousry Dhiflaoui scored for the stadium in the 23rd minute, while Adel scored for the Bizertin club, Allende, in the 30th minute.
Tomorrow, Sunday, two matches will be held within the twenty-fifth round, with CS Sfaxien playing against Soliman, and Etoile Metlaoui against AS Marsa, with the round concluding with a confrontation between Esperance Tunis and Esperance Zarzis. (Erm News)
