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CAF Confederation Cup

ETOILE DU SAHEL PUSH RANGERS TO 3RD ON THE LOG

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Etoile du Sahel bounced back to beat Enugu Rangers 2-1 on Sunday in Sousse for their first win at the group stage of CAF Confederation Cup. The win pushed hitherto Group B leaders, Rangers to the third position on head-to-head classification as both are tied on four points and goal difference.

Bright Silas gave the Nigerians the lead on the quarter-hour mark before Iheb Msakni and Saddem Ben Aziza scored in either half to give ‘Les Diables Rouges’ a lifeline and remain in contention for a place at the next round.

The Tunisians knew they had to prove themselves at home after a winless spell in their last two Group B games. And they almost broke the deadlock on 13 minutes after a free-kick by Maher Hannachi met the head of Ben Aziza, but the latter’s effort went wide.

Rangers responded two minutes later when Michael Uchebo found Silas who went on a run past his markers before firing past Etoile goalie Makram Bdiri.

Etoile were not going to take things lightly. Their response came in the 35th minute when Malek Baayou’s free-kick found Msakni, whose header beat Nana Bonsu in post for Rangers.

The homers resumed stronger and four minutes past the hour mark Darwin Gonzalez had the chance to put them up for the first time, but his effort kissed the crossbar. Ben Aziza who was lurking around tapped home the rebound to give Etoile the lead.

Twelve minutes before the end, Gonzalez was denied by Bonsu as the homers cruised to a narrow win.

In the other Group B match, Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien and Salitas of Burkina Faso settled for a barren draw in Sfax. Sfaxien leads the pack on five points, one more than Etoile and Rangers with Salitas in that order on two points.


Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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