Esperance close in on Tunisian Premier League glory

2009-11-23

JSK, no match for league leaders Esperance, suffer a sound defeat, while Club Africain silence ES Sahel with a near-shutout in the CLP-1.

By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 23/11/09

[Mona Yahia] Esperance players are having a ball after a 4-0 victory over JSK on Friday.

Espérance Sportive de Tunis continue to lead the football pack, smashing Jeunesse Sportive Kairouanaise 4-0 to open the 10th round of Tunisian Premier League play on Friday (November 20th).

Despite Kairouan threatening throughout the first half, Esperance dominated early, with midfielder Khalil Chammam netting a goal in the 30th to get the ball rolling. Striker Khaled Ayari then added a one-two punch, scoring in the 39th and 53rd minutes. JS Kairouan could only watch helplessly as Esperance forward Oussama Darragi clinched a victory with a netball in the 71st minute. With this win, Esperance solidifies its position at the top of the league with 27 points.

"The game reflects the fine performance of the team throughout the game," Esperance assistant coach Maher Kanzari said after the match.

JS Kairouan coach Mourad Mahjoub, whose team has six defeats and ranks last in the table with 12 points, lamented his team's level of play.

"We're still too lax in our play, which isn't normal," he told reporters.

The second batch of games held on Saturday saw ES Hammam-Sousse and Stade Tunisien play to a 1-1 draw.

With their second draw in a row, Stade Tunisien now have 18 points and are in 3rd place, while ES Hammam-Sousse are lagging far behind in 11th place with 8 points.

Elsewhere in the league, hosts Olympique Béja defeated AS Kasserine 3-1. Goals came from midfielder Nizar Garbouj in the 13th, striker Aymen Soltani in the 42nd and Bassem Saibi in the 63rd to put OB ahead.

Kasserine midfielder Zied Hammami scored in stoppage time.

Béja manager Rachid Belhout said Kasserine was only able to score after his team got too comfortable with a three-goal lead.

After the win, Olympic Béja climbed to the 9th spot with 11 points, while Kasserine came away from the match in 13th place with 8 points.

In Sunday matches, all eyes were turned to ES Sahel and Club Africain.

ESS dominated the first half, with defender Ammar Jmal netting a penalty kick early on. ES Sahel striker Eric Asamoah Frimpong followed it up with a netball in the 42nd.

CA turned up the heat in the second half, taking advantage of a missing ESS player and scoring two goals in seven minutes. Attacker Wissem Yahia put the ball away in the 69th, while defender Mohamed Bachtobji scored the equaliser in the 76th minute.

"The goal gives me such a great morale boost," Yahia said after the match.

CA coach Pierre Lechantre thought the team could have ended with a win, had a referee allowed a penalty kick at the end of play.

The draw leaves CA second in the rankings, with 21 points and six points behind leaders Esperance. ES Sahel are now in the number 4 slot, with 10 points between them and the league leaders.

ESS defender Jmal, whose penalty kick in the 42nd cut CA's lead to one goal, took issue with the ranking. "ES Sahel do not deserve to rank that low. That's why I was so moved when I scored the penalty kick," he said.

In another match, CS Hammam-Lif beat CA Bizertin 1-nil, scoring in the first minute of stoppage time. Hammam-Lif now have 7 points in the rankings, but still clog up the bottom of the league table. CA Bizertin, with their second consecutive loss, drop to 6th place with 17 points.

ES Zarzis tied with US Monastir 1-1. Zarzis now rank 12th with a total of 8 points, while USM climb to 8th place, with 11 points.

EGSG will play CS Sfaxien in a closed-door match on Wednesday to finish off the 10th round of play.