Esperance hold their nerve
Tunisians win a third African title
It took a storming recovery to turn around the outcome of this year’s CAF Champions League Final, but Tunisian side Esperance were able to set aside their nerves and inferiority complex to beat recordholders Al Ahly of Egypt and be crowned champions of Africa.
A thrilling 3-0 home win in the return game in Tunis overturned a 3-1 deficit from a controversyladen first leg in Alexandria and condemned the eight-time winners to the runners-up spot for a second successive year.
The Egyptians established a two-goal advantage at the Borg El Arab Stadium thanks to two controversial penalties, both confirmed by Algerian referee Mehdi Abid Charef after checking with the VAR.
And at the heart of both was Ahly’s Walid Azaro, who dived to win the first spot-kick, then tore his own shirt in an effort to con the officials for the second.
Walid Soliman opened the scoring after Esperance keeper Moez Ben Cherifia bought down Azaro in the first half and Amr Elsoulia doubled the host’s lead just before the hour mark. Youcef Belaili then replied with a penalty of his own for what would prove to be a vital consolation for the Tunisians.
Soliman’s second spot-kick for Ahly was awarded when an Esperance defender clashed with Azaro in the penalty area. After consulting with VAR, the referee once again pointed to the spot, but he missed the Moroccan striker tearing at his own shirt to make the incident look a lot worse.
In the wake of the first leg, pictures of Azaro ripping his shirt spread on social media and the Confederation of African Football banned him from the return game. The errant official was also removed, but CAF refused to overturn bookings for Esperance captain Chamseddine Dhaoudi and key midfielder Franck Kom which meant they were suspended for the second leg.
Seven days later at the Stade Olympique de Rades on the outskirts of the capital Tunis, the home side were slow to find their rhythm but came alive on the stroke of half-time as Saad Bguir, who had barely featured in the group phase, ghosted in to turn home a pass from Taha Yassine Khenissi.
Bguir got his second in the 53rd minute after winning possession in midfield and then heading home Mohamed Ali Yaccoubi’s cross.
Looking to avenge their 3-2 aggregate defeat by Ahly in the 2012 Final,
Esperance swept forward and confirmed victory with four minutes left to play as the competition’s top scorer Anice Badri got his eighth goal.
Esperance, who will represent Africa at the Club World Cup, are now guaranteed a spot in the group phase of the next Champions League, which began at the end of November as the calendar changed from a February-to-November schedule to August– to-May. The Final of the transitional tournament will be in May 2019.