Espérance de Tunis were held to a goalless draw by Club Sportif Sfaxien on Thursday afternoon at the Taïeb Mhiri Stadium, in a rescheduled match from Matchday 6 of the Tunisian Ligue 1. The Blood and Gold had the better of the game for long spells but lacked the finishing touch to make their chances count. It was a frustrating afternoon, especially given that there was a real opportunity to come away with all three points.

Espérance took the initiative from the opening minutes against a Sfaxien side sitting deep in its own half. With plenty of bodies packed into midfield, space was hard to find at first, but the visitors gradually began to work their way forward and put Aymen Dahmen's goal under pressure.

The first real chance came in the 9th minute. A free kick just outside the box saw Lucas Ribeiro cleverly lay the ball off to Hamza Rafia, whose shot missed the target. Hamza Jelassi reacted quickly to the rebound and struck the ball first time, only to send it over the bar. It was a promising opening that deserved a better finish.

A few minutes later, Hazem Mastouri wasted a golden opportunity on the counterattack. With teammates in good positions and space to pick out a pass, the striker opted to shoot himself, but his weak effort failed to trouble the Sfaxien defence.

Espérance kept pushing. Mastouri met a corner with a header, but Imad Faraj, who was in an offside position, got a touch on the ball. In the 27th minute, a neat one-two between Faraj and Mastouri inside the box gave the latter a shooting opportunity, but his effort went wide. A minute later, another promising move involving Mohamed Belhadj-Mahmoud and Mastouri ended with a corner after the striker's shot was deflected.

By the half-hour mark, Espérance were clearly on top. CS Sfaxien were sitting deep and defending in numbers, while the Blood and Gold kept looking for a way through. The visitors were creating opportunities, but their finishing let them down.

Deep into first-half stoppage time, an Ali Maâloul free kick caused further trouble in the Espérance box. Raed Chikhaoui intervened just in time to clear the danger. The teams went into the break at 0-0, despite Espérance having had enough chances to take the lead.

The game became more difficult for Espérance after the restart. CS Sfaxien pushed further up the pitch and looked to make the most of set pieces to put the visitors under pressure.

In the 56th minute, a scramble inside the Espérance box nearly proved costly. Walid Dhouib managed to get a shot away amid the confusion, but Béchir Ben Saïd produced an excellent save on his goal line to keep the score level.

After that spell of pressure from the hosts, Espérance gradually regained control, but they never quite found the rhythm and fluency they had shown before half-time. Clear-cut chances became less frequent, and misplaced passes and technical errors often brought promising moves to an end.

In the 68th minute, Youcef Belaïli curled an effort towards goal, forcing Aymen Dahmen into a diving save. Four minutes later, Lucas Ribeiro fired well over after a promising attacking move. Belaïli then tried his luck with a header from a perfectly delivered Mohamed Dräger cross, but his effort went wide.

Espérance still had a good chance in the 74th minute. Imad Faraj played Ribeiro through, but Dahmen was again on hand to keep out his shot. The visitors failed to find a breakthrough, despite one final effort from Moez Hadj-Ali following a corner in stoppage time, which sailed over the bar.

The final whistle confirmed a 0-0 draw. It was a result that left Espérance with plenty of regrets, particularly after a first half in which they had controlled the game and created several good chances.

The second half was less convincing. After allowing CS Sfaxien back into the contest, the Blood and Gold struggled to find the right pass in the final third and lacked the composure to make the most of the opportunities they did create.

Espérance had travelled to Sfax hoping to build on their recent form and make a move up the league table. Instead, they had to settle for a single point, a disappointing return given their ambitions and the chances they had during the match.

Now it is back to work. The team will need to address what went wrong and, above all, rediscover the finishing touch that was missing at the Taïeb Mhiri Stadium. Because in matches like this, having the upper hand is not enough. You have to turn it into goals.

EST Lineup: Ben Saïd, Dräger, Elaifi, Jelassi(c), Chikhaoui, Belhadj-Mahmoud (Belaïli 54'), Rafia (Hadj-Ali 60'), Castillo, Faraj (Monyebe 78'), Ribeiro and Mastouri (Jabri 78').
Booked: Castillo, Chikhaoui.