Tusker FC were held to a goalless draw by CS Sfaxien in Nairobi on Sunday afternoon, in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup’s playoff tie.
That is not a good result for the Kenyan giants, who however managed to keep a valuable clean sheet ahead of their trip to Tunisia next weekend for the return leg.
Robert Matano’s men will have to find the back of the net on the road and make sure to get something out from their trip to book a place in the group stages of the competition.
It was a stumbling start to the game by both teams which saw very few chance son goal early on.
The first real effort on goal came in the 16th minute when Boniface Muchiri fired a 25-yard shot inches wide of Sfaxien goal.
Three minutes later Tusker had another chance on goal, but Ibrahim Joshua headed a right wing cross narrowly over the target.
The best chance of the opening half fell to Mohamed Nasraoui in the 40th minute, but the Sfaxien man saw his shot from just inside the box superbly saved by the keeper.
The half ended 0-0.
Tusker goalkeeper was called into action again five minutes after the break, this time denying Fares Neji from range.
In the 53rd minute Senaji Clyde should really have scored for the home side following a goalmouth scramble, but he struck the crossbar from close range.
The game fell into a bit of a lull after that as both teams squandered possession in the final third and chances on goal were at a minimal.
Ojok almost stall the win in the dying minutes of the match with a thunderous long range effort, but the Sfaxien keeper pulled off a wonderful save to see the game end all-square.
How they lined up:
Tusker XI:Brian Bwire, Daniel Sakari, Hillary Wandera, Kalos Kirenge, Eugene Asike, Clyde Senaji, Humphrey Mieno, Boniface Muchiri, Shami Kibwana, Jackson Macharia, Ibrahim Joshua.
CS Sfaxien XI: Dahmen Aymen, Nasroui Mohamed, Mohamed Salih Ali, Aymen Harzi, Walid Karoui, Alaa Ghram, Houssem Dagdoug, Chris Kouakau, Fares Neji, Mahmoud Ghorbel, Walid Karoui.
