TUNISIAN club Union Sportive Monastirienne dealt a blow to Muharraq’s chances of qualifying for the group stage of the 2023 King Salman Club Cup by defeating the Bahraini club 2-0 last night in the first leg of their second round qualification matches in Tunis.
Known simply as Monastir, the Tunisian side thrilled the home fans who had packed the 20,000-seater Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet stadium when, after a barren first half, they scored twice within 20 minutes in the second half to take the game away from the visitors.
The two teams will now meet again in Bahrain for the return fixture on May 31 which Muharraq will need to win by a big margin to ensure that they can progress to the next round on aggregate.