Sfaxien manager Mrad Mahjoub was left fuming by refereeing as his side were defeated 1-0 against Ahli and lost the chance of winning their first African Champions League title ever. Benin referee Kodja Koffi disallowed an early second-half goal for Sfaxien after adjudging forward Tarak Ziadi to be in an offside position. "Ziadi's goal was totally legal and allowing this goal would have changed the course of the game," Mahjoub told the post-match press conference. The television replay proved that Ziadi wasn't in an offside position as he was covered by Ahli defender Ahmed Shedid. Ghanaian striker Joetex Frimpong was also flagged for offside in a one-on-one with keeper Essam Al-Hadari shortly after Ziadi's cancelled strike but the replay, again, proved it was a legal situation. Mahjoub, who steered Sfaxien three years ago to the Arab Champions League title, refused criticism over his too-defensive strategies, especially in the second period. "Sfaxien players did what they were supposed to do and we were the African Champions for 92 minutes," he said, referring to the time of Mohamed Abou-Treika's winner that kept the trophy in Cairo.