Tunisia Ligue 1: Espérance and Monastir remain level after narrow victories

With only four rounds remaining, the title race in Tunisia's Ligue 1 Professionnelle remains as tight as ever.

On Sunday, US Monastir and defending champions Espérance ST each recorded narrow victories over relegation fighting sides to maintain their pace at the top. For EST, Brazilian striker Rodrigo Rodrigues scored his first goal in over four months to lead the Blood and Gold to a 1-0 home victory over EGS Gafsa.

In the south of Tunisia, USM found a second half goal from Louay Trayi to overcome last placed US Tataouine in a 1-0 result. The talented 20-year-old midfielder's low shot snuck past UST goalkeeper Selim Rebai to extend USM's league unbeaten run to nine matches.

Club Africain also remain firmly in contention. A 2-1 victory away from home at ES Metlaoui kept the 13-time Tunisian champions within reach of EST and USM courtesy of goals from Ali Youssef and Bilel Ait Malek.

On April 20, CA will have an excellent opportunity to overtake rivals Espérance when the two teams clash. EST will be without the services of star forward Youcef Belaïli after a suspension was imposed on the controversial Algerian star.

Another traditional giant of Tunisian football, Etoile du Sahel, are five points back of the co-leaders and have a match on hand that could allow ESS to overtake Club Africain. In their latest match on Saturday, ESS defeated US Ben Guerdane with two first half goals for a 2-1 victory.

The league returns to action next weekend where more suspense awaits with the arrival of the Derby between EST and Club Africain while Monastir will look to take advantage of a winnable fixture at home against AS Soliman.

League Table (Top-5)

	GP	Points
Espérance ST	26	56
US Monastir	26	56
Club Africain	26	53
Etoile du Sahel	25	51
ES Zarzis	26	47

Note: Espérance ST leads US Monastir due to a superior head-to-head record (2-0 victory at USM). The two teams will battle again in the last matchday of the season at EST.