Tunisian giants Espérance ST are showing notable signs of weakness at the worst time. Once again the Blood and Gold could only manage a draw against midtable opposition after conceding a late equalizer in their 2-2 draw at JS Omrane. With only five matches remaining after the completion of the 24th Round on Thursday, the result adds to the suspense of the title race.
Making their debut in Ligue 1 this season, JSO scrapped and clawed back twice from deficits to earn a point against their fellow Tunis-based opponents. EST foreign stars Youcef Belaïli and Yan Sasse each put the defending champions ahead in the second half with Belaïli producing an acrobatic finish to open the scoring after his 70th minute penalty kick was saved.
But five minutes later the hosts leveled with a goal from Omar Zouaghi. To the dismay of EST supporters, the sequence repeated itself in the final minutes. Brazilian attacker Yan Sasse put the favorites ahead in the 83rd minute but in the eighth minute of stoppage time it was Haythem Khemissi who flew into the penalty area for a headed goal to save a point for the hosts.
The result is a massive boost for EST's closest challenger, US Monastir, who can move level on 53 points if they are able to defeat ES Zarzis on Thursday.
Also on Wednesday, Etoile du Sahel moved to within four points of EST into third place after a 2-0 victory at AS Gabès. Oussema Abid and Firas Chaouat scored the goals for ESS who remain in contention for both the title and a place in CAF club competition next season.
In the other two matches, CS Sfaxien dominated AS Soliman in a 4-0 victory while US Ben Guerdane defeated CA Bizertin 1-0.
League Table (Top-5)
GP | Points | |
Espérance ST | 25 | 53 |
US Monastir | 24 | 50 |
Etoile du Sahel | 25 | 49 |
Club Africain | 24 | 47 |
ES Zarzis | 24 | 47 |
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