Ouagadougou: Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia) narrowly defeated Rahimo FC of Burkina Faso in a tightly contested match at the August 4 Stadium in Ouagadougou, securing a 1-0 win in the first leg of the second round of the CAF Champions League preliminaries.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the decisive moment came in the 45th minute when Esperance striker Florian Danho capitalized on a corner, finding the back of the net to give his team the lead. Despite a late surge from Rahimo FC, the score remained unchanged, leaving the Burkinabe team with a challenging task ahead in the return leg.
Rahimo's coach, Moroccan Jamil Benouahi, expressed confidence in his team's ability to overturn the deficit when they travel to Tunisia. He remarked, "We will go to Tunisia to fully defend our chances," and added that his team showed resilience throughout the match, despite conceding a goal just before halftime.
On the other side, Tunisian coach Maher Kanzari acknowledged the competitiveness of Rahimo FC and highlighted the importance of the upcoming fixture in Tunisia. "We failed to kill the match to qualify," Kanzari said, recognizing that Rahimo's quality could pose a threat in the return leg. The narrow win leaves Esperance with work to do as they aim to advance in the tournament.