Magharebia

CF Cansado secured the top place in the provisional rankings of Mauritania's D1 football championship following Day 19 action played April 13th-14th.

Meanwhile, FC Nouadhibou are still within reach of the leaders after snatching a win from Nasr Zem-Zem. FC Tevragh-Zeïna and ASAC Concorde had to postpone their matches because of the Mourabitounes' international commitments.

When it came to claiming their top spot, CF Cansado held no punches. Taking advantage of FC Tevragh-Zeïna's day off, the lesser team dominated AS Armée with style and a crushing 4-0 score. They now find themselves in top position with 43 points, two ahead of Tevragh-Zeïna, but having played one game more.

"The players went through a bad patch on the 18th day, but they've pulled themselves together and we hope we'll be able to keep it up, putting pressure on the teams chasing us," said M'Bodj Babacar, the CF Cansado coach, who had received various threats from club officials about a possible defeat for his side.

"We now need to wait for T. Zeina's next outing for the picture to become clearer," he added, brushing aside rumours about his possible departure this year. "We haven't reached that point."

Meanwhile in Nouakchott, FC Nouadhibou struggled to a win against a solid side from hosts Nasr Zem-Zem. Thanks to a double from serial goal-scorer El Mamy Traoré, the reigning champions came away with a valuable 3-2 win.

Having been thwarted throughout the match, the Oranges still managed to live up to their status as favourites to take the crown once more. Third in the table with 39 points, Moussa Ghassoum's team are still in a good position to steal the prize at the end of the season.

"I'm happy to score goals for the good of my team," said El Mamy Troaré, teasing the crowd and flashing his number 9 at them after each goal.

"It's not a provocation, but the way he celebrates his goals," said coach Moussa Ould Ghassoum, who could not understand why Patrice Neveu hasn't called him up for the national side. "I think it's unfair, because he's still the best goal-scorer in the championship."

Two matches were put off because of an international fixture for the Mourabitounes, touring Dubai. Those were the matches between FC Tevragh-Zeïna, who have 41 points, and ASC Tidjikja (29 points), and the game between ASAC Concorde (36 points) and ASC Police (24 points). Those matches will be decisive in the outcome of this season's competition.

In other matches, ASC Kédia came away with three points from their trip to Nouadhibou after a 1-0 win over ASC Imraguens. The Zouérathies are in seventh place with 27 points, while the Imraguens are stagnating on 18 points.

"The team's going through a bad patch, because some of the players have missed training," said Mody Niang, the Imraguens' coach, who had to dig out some substitutes.

In the other Nouadhibou match, UC Lasa beat ASC Ksar 1 goal to nil. This was the second win of the season for the championship back markers, giving them some valuable points. They currently have 13 points, but are still trailing the rest of the teams. ASC Ksar are in a difficult position, which could get worse if club officials fail to take swift action. The team has 20 points in all.

In another match up, Trarza Legwareb won against Entente Sebkha 1-0. This was an important win, taking the team to 14 points and out of the red zone, for now at least. Entente de Sebkha are still in dire straits, with just 13 points.