Imed Ben Younès Defeats Faouzi Benzarti: ES Métlaoui Relaunches and Club Africain Falters
La Presse — Yesterday's match between ESM and CA was expected to be intense and attack-oriented from both sides. Club Africain, lurking in the standings behind its leaders, needed to win to maintain its position and more. Meanwhile, the Miners, who had been inconsistent so far, required a victory to leapfrog in the standings and regain confidence.
Let's move on to the harsh reality of the field. There was no observation period in this explanation, with both teams displaying their offensive intentions from the start. The Miners quickly took the lead through Ahmed Ouled Bahia, who scored in front of a stunned defense. Ali Youssef made a monumental mistake with a poor header pass to Yefreni.
The match was underway, and the encounter heated up. A quarter of the game had passed when Club Africain attempted some unsuccessful incursions through Khadhraoui. Around the 20th minute, CA could have restored balance, but Chawat was thwarted by goalkeeper Ben Cherifia following a service from Hamza Khadhraoui. The next minute, ESM proved just as formidable, but the Club Africain goalkeeper intervened against Naby Sylla.
Around the 30th minute, goalkeeper Yeferni injured himself and was replaced by Mouhib Chamekh, a familiar face for Etoile de Métlaoui. Until then, CA had been piercing but not performing, while ESM was making an impact with quick counterattacks, although without validating their efforts. On the Club Africain side, Charfeddine Aoun was expelled at the 40th minute.
That's where we'll leave the first half, with a willing but ineffective CA, even though Ghaith Zaalouni could have equalized around the 51st minute. Briefly, 10 minutes of added time brought nothing new, although Sameh Bouhajeb could have doubled the score following a hazardous exit by Chamekh. Subsequently, Hamza Jaied blew the whistle to end an interminable first half.
Chawat's Missed Opportunity
Returning from the break, ESM started strong, but Onana's shot found Chamekh ready to receive. The rhythm dropped a notch thereafter, but the engagement was total from both sides, with the game confined to each side and few successful ideas when trying to project forward.
Around the hour mark, the debate remained balanced, but it was up to CA to chase the score, while ESM could be content with what had been achieved. In the 68th minute, Srarfi alerted Hamza Ben Cherifia, who repelled the leather. In the 83rd minute, CA pushed, obtained a penalty provoked and taken by Chawat, but repelled by Ben Cherifia, who was decidedly in a state of grace. We were in the final stretch, and CA couldn't find the gap. ESM fully deserved their victory against a CA that was uncomfortable and also feverish.
ESM Lineup:
- Hamza Ben Cherifia
- Oussema Bahri
- Mohamed Ben Hassine
- Fares Meskini
- Eric Koussai
- Islam Gasmi
- Naby Sylla
- Sameh Bouhajeb
- Brandon Nana (Abdoulay Bangoura)
- Ahmed Ouled Bahia
- Yassine Soltani
CA Lineup:
- Ghaith Yefreni (Mouhib Chamekh)
- Ghaith Zaalouni
- Hamza Ben Abda
- Ali Youssef
- Oussema Shili
- Moataz Zemzemi (Saidou Khan)
- Charfeddine Aoun
- Bilel Ait Malek (Sadok Mahmoud)
- Philippe Kinzumbi (Bassem Srarfi)
- Hamza Khadhraoui
- Firas Chawat
