Tunisian giants, Esperance booked their place at the last eight thanks to a 3-0 thumping of AS Real of mali on Sunday in Rades.
Haythem Jouini, Iheb Msakni and Harrison Afful were each on target as the ‘Blood and Gold’ marched on 4-1 on aggregate.
The Tunisian’s kept their ambitions of a third title on track by dispatching off the surviving Malian club in the premier continental championship. Esperance, a regular face at the group stage joins rivals CS Sfaxien to complete the Tunisian pair for the lucrative mini-league stage.
Esperance broke the deadlock after 33 minutes through Jouini who finished off a three-man move involving Oussama Darragi and Chamseddine Dhaouadi as the other actors.
Few minutes after replacing Darragi, Msakni made his presence felt with the second goal on 53 minutes.
Six minutes from time, Afful completed the rout, tapping into the yawning net after Msakni lobbed over the onrushing AS Real goalkeeper.
Reactions
Ruud Krol (Head Coach, Esperance)
“As expected, AR Real were enthusiastic with strong technical abilities. We got the goals to go through. We have reached the group stage and the hard part of the journey has yet to start.”
Mohamed Ben Mansour (Defender, Esperance)
“We have achieved our first goal. The result could be misleading but AS Real is a good side and difficult to beat. It was important we did not concede today, and that gives confidence to the defence.”
Confederation of African Football (CAF) News
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