Étoile du Zarzis secured a 3-1 victory over Diambarès in the first preliminary round of the CAF Confederation Cup on Thursday. The Tunisian side took control early and saw off the Malian visitors despite a red card for their opponents. The result puts the hosts in a strong position ahead of the second leg.
Goals came at regular intervals throughout the contest. Étoile du Zarzis struck first in the thirteenth minute, then added another before half-time in the thirty-fifth. The visitors pulled one back in the fifty-sixth, but the hosts closed out the scoring with a seventh-minute goal to seal the win.
By then the shape of the match had shifted. Diambarès were reduced to ten men and could not recover the momentum they had built in the opening stages. To be fair, the visitors had created more chances in total, but discipline proved decisive.
The statistics tell a mixed story. Diambarès registered seventy-eight attacks compared to fifty for the hosts, yet could not convert their superiority. Étoile du Zarzis maintained fifty per cent possession and earned five corners to six for their opponents. The visitors took three yellow cards and one red before the final whistle.
And here's the thing about these knockout ties. The hosts are unbeaten in five across all competitions, while Diambarès have not won since May last year. The scoreline reflects that gap in form more than the raw numbers suggest.