Tunisia: Esperance seize first place

Reigning champions Esperance Sportive de Tunis moved to the top of the Tunisia Ligue 1 Professionnelle table on Sunday with a 2-1 victory at CS Sfaxien.

Youcef Belaïli headed in his second Ligue 1 goal of the season after getting on the end of a corner kick from compatriot Kouceila Boualia at the end of the first half. The match winner from the Algerian came after an eventful first half.

Striker Florian Danho was forced off to the hospital after an injury inside twenty minutes before Hamza Jelassi opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 27th minute. Hosts CSS responded with a spot kick of their own from Hichem Baccar but Belaïli restored the lead soon after to move EST into a one-point lead.

The new leaders take the place of Club Africain, who needed a late goal to save a 1-1 result on Saturday against AS Soliman. Also clearing the path for EST to take first place was a disappointing result on Sunday for Stade Tunisien, who could only manage a 0-0 draw at JS Omrane.

In the other matches from Sunday, CA Bizertin defeated Olympique Beja 3-0 while the match between ES Zarzis and AS Marsa was halted at 0-0 in the second half. Marsa coach Ameur Derbal was taken to the hospital after getting involved an a tense incident with an ES Zarzis player, resulting in the coach being hit with an object during the ensuing scuffle.

Tunisia Ligue 1: Round 12 Results

CS Sfaxien 1-2 Esperance Tunis

JS Omrane 0-0 Stade Tunisien

ES Zarzis 0-0 AS Marsa (abandoned in the 2nd half)

CA Bizertin 3-0 Olympique Beja

US Ben Guerdane 2-0 JS Kairouan

Etoile du Sahel 2-0 ES Metlaoui

AS Gabes 1-1 US Monastir

Club Africain 1-1 AS Soliman

League Table