STARS ABROAD: Former Gor Mahia defender endures nightmare outing in Tunisia
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Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 17.09.25. | 07:48
Omija, who made his debut on Saturday, 13 September, starting in central defence, was once again handed a starting berth by coach Lassaad Dridi
Harambee Stars defender Alphonce Omija endured a nightmare evening as his Étoile Sportive du Sahel side suffered a 2-3 loss to JS Kairouan in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
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In a league match hosted by Omija’s ESS on Tuesday, 16 September at the Stade Olympique de Sousse, the home side lost a two-goal lead to suffer a 3-2 loss to Kairouan
Omija, who made his debut on Saturday, 13 September, starting in central defence, was once again handed a starting berth by coach Lassaad Dridi.
ESS started on a high and were awarded a penalty in the fifth minute. Raki Aouani stepped up but missed from 12 yards.
However, ESS were not to be denied in the 35th minute when Ghofrane Naouali broke the deadlock from a Slim Khadraoui assist.
As the match approached halftime, the former Gor Mahia defender was in the mix of action as he ended up conceding a penalty and was booked for his troubles.
Kairouan’s Hamdi Helal stepped up to take the penalty, but just like Aouani, he failed to convert his spotkick in the second minute of first-half added time, with ESS heading into the break with a slender 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Aouani turned from scorer to provider when he assisted 19-year-old Mohamed Anane’s goal in the 66th minute to double ESS's lead.
The visitors' comeback began in the 78th minute when Helal made amends by providing the assist to which second-half substitute Idriss Liouan found the back of the net.
Rejuvenated by the goal, the visitors kept pushing and got a lifeline when they won their second and the match’s third penalty, to which Abdoulaye Kanou scored the equaliser.
The visitors still had time to find the winner, which came in the second minute of second-half added time through Zairi Mohamed, who justified his second-half introduction by completing the comeback.
Despite the victory, Kairouan finished the game with ten men after Liouan was sent off in the ninth minute of added time for a second bookable offense.
Omija’s ESS are now ninth in the 16-team table with five points. The 2023 league champions will now shift focus to the CAF Confederation Cup, where they will be away to Madami of Sudan on Saturday, 20 September, a match Omija will be hoping to feature in.
