Étoile du Sahel edge past ES Métlaoui in tight Ligue 1 clash
Étoile du Sahel secured a 2:1 victory over ES Métlaoui in the second round of Ligue 1 on Saturday evening. The match, played at 15:30 on 30 August 2026, saw the hosts take all three points after a contest that swung back and forth between the sides. To be fair, neither team dominated for long stretches, and the result came down to three decisive moments rather than sustained pressure from either camp.
A. Fajari opened the scoring in the 71st minute, ending a period where ES Métlaoui had looked dangerous on the counter. The goal stretched the back line and gave Étoile the lead they would need to hold onto. And here's the thing — the visitors had been the more threatening team for much of the first half, but Étoile's structure tightened after the break.
ES Métlaoui equalised just four minutes later through O. Naffati in the 75th minute. The response was quick, and the visitors picked up the momentum again. Étoile's defence, which had looked comfortable, suddenly found itself under pressure, and the home side needed to respond if they were going to stay in the game.
O. Abid provided the decisive moment in the 82nd minute, firing home to restore Étoile's lead and end the visitors' hopes. By then, the game had settled into a rhythm where both teams were trading blows, but Étoile held their nerve when it mattered. The goal came after a period of sustained pressure, and it proved to be the difference in a match that could have gone either way.
The statistics tell their own story, though not the whole one. Étoile dominated possession at 67 per cent, with 98 attacks compared to 59 for the visitors. They registered 15 shots in total, five on target, while ES Métlaoui managed only five shots with three on target. Things came to a head in the final twenty minutes, but the numbers alone don't capture the urgency of those closing stages.
Étoile remain in seventh place with three points from two games, while ES Métlaoui sit bottom of the table with zero points from two defeats. The result extended Étoile's unbeaten run, though the visitors had shown they could compete when they took the lead. The gap between the sides in the table remains significant, but this was a match that proved how close the two teams are on the pitch.