ES Tunis’ Hamdou Elhouni celebrates after scoring their fifth goal and completing a hat-trick.
African champions Esperance Sportive de Tunis outclassed 10-man Al Sadd 6-2 to claim fifth position at the FIFA Club World Cup at the Khalifa International Stadium, yesterday.
In what turned out to be a one-sided contest, Hamdou Elhouni emerged as the ES Tunis hero after firing a hat-trick, with Anice Badri scoring a brace. Sameh Derbali was other scorer for the CAF Champions League winners.
Baghdad Boundejah and Hassan Al Haydos scored a goal each for the home side.
For Xavi Hernandez’s Al Sadd, who played without Abdelkarim Hassan – red carded – it was a night to forget as ES Tunis dominated the play-off match dubbed the battle of Arabian and African powerhouses.
The Wolves, who were still not fully recovered from their heartbreaking 2-3 defeat to Monterrey in the quarter-final, endured a shaky start with nothing going their way in the first 25 minutes.
On the other hand, ES Tunis – seeking to retain their fifth position in the event – were a better side right from the start and didn’t take much time to take a lead against the hosts.
Elhouni fired the African champions ahead with a sixth minute strike after receiving a short pass from Al Badri. The Libyan national beat Boualem Khoukhi and shot the ball past goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham on far corner to open scoring.
Six minutes later, ES Tunis celebrated their second goal when Al Badri sneaked in to intercept Tariq Salman’s back pass – which lacked the pace significantly – and found the net comfortably.
Al Sadd looked to cut the lead with striker Baghdad Bounedjah - seeking his third goal of the tournament - entering the ES Tunis box in shotr intervals. But, it wasn’t Al Sadd night at all as they were dealt with a double blow in a counter attack by ES Tunis in the 24th minute.
Referee Abdelkakar Zitouni – representing French Polynesia – after consulting with VAR, awarded a penalty to ES Tunis and sent Abdelkarim off after a deflection from Badri hit his hand near the goalmouth. Badri made no mistake in defeating Barsham to make it 3-0.
Al Sadd pulled one back after a dangerous looking Akram Afif was brought down by defender Derbali inside the box, prompting the referee to signal a spot kick swiftly, which Bounedjah converted by defeating Tunis goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifa on his right.
But, when Al Sadd were beginning to rejuvenate, Elhouni retained the three-goal lead for the Africans - scoring his second of the match – three minutes before the halftime.
The Libyan was attempting a back pass inside the box, which bounced back to him after taking Hamid Ismael’s deflection, while in a good position to score.
Trailing by 1-4, Al Sadd got off to a positive when Qatar captain Al Haydos converted a penalty after Afif was brought down by Abdelkader Bedrane.
Al Sadd made several efforts to bounce back into the match but it was ES Tunis, who found two more goals to complete rout of Xavi’s side. Elhouni completed his hat-trick with a goal in 74th minute, with Derbali sealing the 6-2 victory, beating the offside trap to fire home on the right side.
Al Sadd will now shift their focus to the QNB Stars League, where they will meet Al Gharafa on December 23.
