Accra Club A Heartbeat Away From Victory

Tunisian coach, Youssef Zouaoui watched with dismay as his side, Esperance lost 2-1 in the first-leg of the African Champions League against 10-man Hearts of Oak, who came from a goal down, and now become favourites for the title.

Winning the Champions League will be the third major trophy for the Ghanaians this year, after domestic triumphs in the FA Cup and a fourth consecutive league title. The victory also means that Hearts have maintained their record as the only unbeaten side since the group phase of the competition started in July.

Esperance, who are playing in their fourth consecutive African club cup final, now face the difficult task of winning by two goals without reply in Accra to guarantee their booing fans the trophy for the first time since it was converted to the Champions League in 1997.

Esperance won the old version of the competition in 1994, and have added the Cup Winners and CAF Cup titles within the following three years.

Saturday's first-leg defeat to Hearts highlighted the Tunisian side's inconsistent form in the group stage of the Champions League. Zouaoui just managed to squeeze through into the final after a dramatic final day by beating Ivory Coast side, Africa Sports in a crucial duel.

After the dismissal of defender Amankwah Mireku, Hearts took the Tunisians with two surprise counter-attacks to equalise and score twice in the second-half. Emmanuel Osei Kuffour added to his tally as the top scorer in the competition with his eighth goal after splendid team-work with provider Emmanuel Adjogu, who rounded Esperance keeper, Chokri El Ouaer to set-up his skipper to score easily from close range.

Addo, 18, had equalised for the visiting Ghanaian side just after the restart when he outpaced the open Esperance defence before shooting past the advancing El Ouaer. Addo was replaced minutes later by Emmanuel Adjogu, as the Ghanaians changed their game plan in order to maintain the 1-1 draw, which would have seen Hearts in a comfortable position for the return match in Accra on December 17.

Although Kuffour's strike does not make the Accra match a formality, it almost assures the Ghanaians their first African champions trophy; the Phobians can win by any margin or draw, and only have to avoid losing by a two goal margin and conceding twice without reply.

However, Hearts should thank goalkeeper Sammy Adjei for his acrobatic saves throughout the match, especially in the first-half. Adjei stopped Esperance striker, Ali Zitouni from scoring four possible goals. The Ghanaian Under-23 international keeper dived to the right post to deny Zitouni's shot following a corner kick. A few minutes later Zitouni headed stylishly from close range, but Adjei slapped the ball away for a corner.

Zitouni also saw his shot blocked by the Ghanaian keeper, who had advanced after the last defender was beaten. Apart from Adjei's efforts, Hearts were lucky to escape the early Esperance assaults with Radhi Jaidi's header shaving the crossbar and Hassan Gabsi hitting the side netting after rounding two defenders. In the second-half Hamami's shot ricocheted off the bar, while in the first five minutes, Ghanaian defenders had to clear the ball from the goal line after Adjei was beaten.

Esperance, though, broke the deadlock after 36 minutes when Gabsi beat the offside trap laid for Zitouni to knock the ball into the net in the six-yard box. The goal put the Tunisians in the lead, but it failed to inspire a massive score in one of the most intimidating venues in Africa.

Esperance were awarded another chance to take the match beyond the reach of Hearts when Mauritian referee, Lim Kee Chong sent-off Mireku mid way through the second-half, but the Tunisians blew away their opportunities.