ES Zarzis’ hopes of progressing in the CAF Confederation Cup were dealt a major blow as they suffered a 3-1 home defeat by AS Real Bamako in the first leg of their second-round tie.
The visitors made the stronger start and took the lead through Fousseyni Tangara, wearing number 12. His early goal silenced the stadium and unsettled the ES Zarzis defence.
The Tunisian side struggled to respond and could not find a tactical solution to contain AS Real Bamako’s attacks. Zarzis were repeatedly placed under pressure, with the home defence unable to prevent the Malian club from creating further opportunities.
AS Real Bamako extended their advantage after the interval when striker Andre Kamate, number 20, took advantage of defensive errors to score twice. His goals gave the visitors a commanding lead and left ES Zarzis with little prospect of recovering in the match.
Al Habibi scored for ES Zarzis in added time to reduce the deficit, but the late strike could not prevent a damaging 3-1 defeat.
The result leaves ES Zarzis with a difficult task in the second leg. The Tunisian club must win away from home by a margin sufficient to overturn the tie if they are to eliminate AS Real Bamako and reach the next stage of the competition.
The home loss means the players from Zarzis will need what the source describes as a major achievement in the return match to reverse the outcome and keep their CAF Confederation Cup campaign alive.
