Sunshine Falls To Club Africain, As Police, Fans Clash

SUNSHINE Stars' dream of playing in the final of the CAF Confederation Cup suffered a major blow yesterday as the Gbenga Ogunbote-tutored side fell to Tunisia's Club Africain in the first leg of the semifinal clash at Ijebu Ode Stadium.The Akure side dominated the first half but failed to find the back of the net. The Tunisians played with lots of caution while the Nigeria side could not break their defense.Sunshine's playmaker, Ibrahim Ajani failed to sparkle as the first 45 minutes ended goalless.Having studied the Nigeria side, the Tunisian team decided to play with a man upfront and their tactics paid off in the 53rd minutes when the only black player in the team, Ezechiel Ndouasel capitalised on the Sunshine defenders mistake to tap the ball beyond goalkeeper, Moses Ocheje to give the North Africans a 1-0 lead.The Tunisian fans in the stadium burst into frenzy after the goal, chorusing the name of scorer. Sunshine then introduced new players like Atanda Sakibu but the team put every foot wrong while the Tunisians were having a field day.The Nigerian fans thought their team had equalised after the ball went into the net through the side but the referee took the right decision and called for a goal kick.After the game, the celebration of the Tunisian side was halted after fans clashed with the police who used tear gas to disperse the irate fans.The clash also prevented the post match conference.
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