Étoile 2 – 1 Al Merrikh : Back on track

By: Houssem | September 15th, 2008

A very important win in Sousse has been secured by Decastel’s team, especially after Asante Kotoko’s 3-1 victory against JS Kabylie. Bringing points back from Sudan and Ghana will prove crucial to winning the final spot, but let’s get back to the Merrikh game.

The lineups :

- Étoile du Sahel
A. Mathlouthi, M. Meriah, H. Bejaoui (M. Ben Mohamed 90+3′), R. Felhi, A. Jemal, M.A. Nafkha (A. Gharbi 71′), M. Sacko, B. Ben Nasr, T. Fwayo, S. Bukari (M. Mosrati 80′), E. Opara
- Al Merrikh
El Hadi, El Nour, Hafidh, Abdallah, Khasen, Marouf, Kortokaila, Mogahid, Nasr Eldin, Koko, Ajab (Tombol 70′)

Decastel surprised everybody with chosing to play with Meriah on the right back side, and moving Sacko to the defensive midfield position.

“I made the choice of using Meriah as a right back because we didn’t have my options left at this position after Ben Radhia’s injury, but I must say that Meriah showed a good defensive performance, and it allowed us to have Sacko in midfield. I can only hope that Ben Radhia will be fit for next weekend’s game in Khartum.”

That left us with Hatem Bejaoui as left back, and his late slip up led to a goal for Al Merrikh that could have brought a second one in the final minutes of the game. Afouène Gharbi made his return with the first team as a substitute to Mohamed Ali Nafkha, which is encouraging even if he still lacks pace and reference on the field.

The goals :

ESS vs merikh
envoyé par meher03

Al Merrikh’s defense was very compact during the first half, which made Opara, Nafkha, Bukhari, Ben Nasr and Fwayo try their luck from outside the box without much success. A header by Felhi hit the crossbar, only a fortaste of what was to expect in the second half. Another corner, and another trademark header by Felhi put Étoile in front, before Emeka Opara took advantage of a well placed high ball and some sloppy defending to make it 2-0. Bejaoui then offered Haitham Tombol a ball on a golden plate, crossing the ball back right between Felhi and Jemal. A monumental error that makes you almost forget about his courageous performance during this game. Such mistakes will probably be history when this team has more experience, but avoiding them can save you the trouble of preventing an equaliser in the last minutes of the game.

How things stand :

After this third matchday, Étoile lead group B alongside Asante Kotoko with 6 points, Al Merrikh and JS Kabylie follow with 3 points each. Étoile’s next game in this competition will be on September 21st away to Al Merrikh in their feared home ground of Om Durman. Souhaiel Ben Radhia would be a valuable addition to this team if he’s fully fit. The major change to the lineup would be Meriah back on his left side, where he can be more helpful up front. Things are going to be harder when the tunisian league resumes by the end of the month, but Decastel has shown that he can deal with injury blows until now, so let’s just trust the man !

RIP : Abdelhafidh Bouraoui

This win comes to honor the memory of Mr. Abdelhafidh Bouraoui, who passed away on September 10th. He was among the founders of Étoile’s first fan club in 1947, and offered a lot to the club and tunisian sport in general. May his soul rest in peace.