Disappointing Performance by Espérance de Tunis
On the pitch of the Abdessalem Kazouz stadium, the "Sang et Or" delivered a poor performance, undoubtedly their worst since the start of the season.
A Stopped Momentum
The momentum of the "Sang et Or", marked by 7 consecutive victories in the championship and Champions League, was halted in Zarzis. A draw that sounds like a failure. First, for Maher Kanzari, who is once again under criticism. As we said before the match, Kanzari is expected to turn the corner by his detractors, who do not let him go on social networks. Constant pressure that will eventually push him to make mistakes that are not like him. Because when you are constantly taken to task, you don't necessarily have all your faculties.
A Poor Performance
On the field and against a Zarzisian team that is going through a bad period, with two consecutive defeats, Espérance de Tunis, who stepped onto the pitch of the Abdessalem Kazouz stadium as favorites, delivered undoubtedly their worst performance since the start of the season.
Players Off-Topic
The day before yesterday, a fact sounded like an evidence: Espérance without Youssef Belaïli loses at least 50% of its means. His replacement, Abdramane Konaté, far from his usual level, did not provide many solutions from the left flank. Moreover, he did not deviate either in the axis or swapped with Boualia to create a diversion.
As for Boualia, despite being the most dangerous player, being the author of three attempts during the first 20 minutes of the game, he did not go further. Ibrahima Keita was content with his purely defensive role, not making regular climbs as he should have. On the left flank, the returning Mohamed Amine Ben Hmida was also far from his usual level. As a result, the offensive mechanism did not work well with Konaté.
At the tip of the attack, Florian Danho delivered the worst performance since he arrived at Parc B. He was transparent, a shadow of himself, not creating a single opportunity. He was replaced by Achref Jabri at the beginning of the second half, given that the latter knows the Zarzisian defense very well. However, he was not better.
A Needed Goalkeeper
In this gloomy picture, luck still smiled on the "Sang et Or" with the penalty obtained by Konaté in the 85th minute. Captain Yassine Meriah, who is returning from injury, wanted to take it. A shot so predictable that the Zarzisian goalkeeper, Seifeddine Charfi, had no difficulty in deflecting it into a corner.
Kanzari's Reaction
Maher Kanzari recognized the just average quality of his team's performance: "On paper, it was a poster between two teams that are having good seasons. ESZ has become a big piece in the Tunisian championship. The match was difficult for both protagonists. The first half was not good technically. Neither of the two protagonists dominated the debates, and the opportunities were rare. In the second half, we changed the placement of certain players, and moreover, we got more options. We put our opponent in difficulty, and we missed opportunities to score. Two lost points, but we came out with a respectable match".
It is the duty of a coach to defend his players. It's even all to his honor. The players of Maher Kanzari were simply off-topic in Zarzis.
