TUNIS (Reuters) - Esperance had an injury-time strike disallowed to deny them victory in a tension-charged African Champions League group B match at home to Zamalek of Egypt.
But the Tunisian side could face sanctions after Moroccan referee Abderrahim El Arjoune was attacked near the end of the game which
finished 1-1.
A last-gasp shot from Kandia Traore was disallowed for offside and an Esperance supporter evaded security men and ran onto the pitch
to strike out at the referee.
El Arjoune, who was not injured, was jostled and verbally abused by Esperance players after the final whistle.
Earlier in the game, he had handed the Egyptian visitors a controversial penalty after defender Radhi Jaidi had tangled with Walid Salah
Abdellatif in the box.
But Zamalek captain Mehdat Abdelhadi had his penalty kick brilliantly saved by Esperance goalkeeper Jean-Jacques Tizie to deny
Zamalek a two-goal lead before the interval.
The Egyptians silenced the 40,000-strong home crowd when veteran striker Hossam Hassan ran on to a searching pass from Abdellatif to
strike home on the half volley with his left foot in the 21st minute.
The 36-year-old, once the world's most capped international, hobbled off just before the break after a crunching tackle from Esperance
defender Moyin Chaabani left him with a thigh injury.
Esperance missed a myriad of chances, with Ivorian-born striker Traore the chief culprit, but scored a deserved equaliser with 20 minutes
left.
Oumar Sane hit a speculative shot from outside the penalty area which took a slight deflection and crept in off the upright.
ASEC Abidjan of Ivory Coast are at home to Costa do Sol of Mozambique in another group B match on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, TP Mazembe Englebert of the Democratic Republic of Congo beat Senegal's Jeanne d'Arc 1-0 away in a group A
encounter in Dakar.
A powerful back post header from
defender Mbombonko Ngoy handed TP Mazembe Englebert of Congo a
surprise 1-0 win away to Senegal's Jeanne d'Arc.
Ngoy powered home his header from a ferociously struck
corner by Mpenza Nawej in the 12th minute to hand the
Lubumbashi-based side a second successive win and move them to
the top of the group A standings.
The defeat for Jeanne d'Arc brought the Senegalese club back
to earth with a resounding thud after their fairytale start to
the competition a fortnight ago when they upset holders Al Ahli
of Egypt 2-1 in Cairo.
Jeanne d'Arc showed little of the inventiveness of their
play earlier this month and created few chances in front of a
sparse home crowd at Dakar's L'Amitie stadium.
Mazembe captain Felix Muamba Musasa was outstanding in
defence as he effectively dealt with the threat of winger
Mouhamadou Diaw.
The Congolese champions beat Raja Casablanca of Morocco, one
of the pre-tournament favourites, in their opening group A
fixture two weeks ago.
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