Tunisian Premier League side Esperance Sportive de Tunis stopped hosts KCCA FC of Uganda 1-0 in a Group A CAF Champions League match at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.

Substitute Haythem Jouini netted the winner in the 40th minute from a cross by Ghilane Chalali.

The win over the 10-man KCCA FC who had goalkeeper Charles Lukwago sent-off, takes Esperance to 10 points in the group and close to qualifying for the quarterfinal stage.

The Tunisian side that has not lost any game in Group A started the match with a high temple and the absence of striker Muhammad Shaban for KCCA was evident as they lacked the finishing punch up-front.

KCCA FC also had the likes of Allan Okello and Shaban Ibrahim Juma miss some clear scoring chances.

“We played against a strong KCCA FC side and studied their patterns well. I am happy we scored the important goal although we should have scored more,” said Khaled Ben Yahia, coach of the Esperance Sportive de Tunis.

The KCCA FC coach Mike Hillary Mutebi blamed his midfielders for having a bad day. “We tried to play our way and did not take our chances we created,” said Mutebi.

Egypt’s Al Ahly and Township Rollers FC of Botswana are the other teams in Group A.

According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the CAF Champions League winners pocket 2.5 million U.S dollars, while the runners-up collect 1.25 million U.S dollars.

The semifinalists win 0.8 million U.S dollars and the quarterfinalists take 0.65 million U.S dollars. The third and fourth placed teams in each of the four groups also win cash prizes. Enditem