[ 2013-08-04 ]

Harrison Afful's Esperance bounce back in CAF Champions League
Ghana defender Harrison Afful played the entire
duration as his Tunisian side Esperance revived
their campaign in the CAF Champions League with a
2-0 success over Coton Sport at home on Saturday
night.

Algerian import Youcef Belaïli scored the first
and made the second for the 2011 African
champions.

The first goal came on the hour mark of a match
that kicked at 10pm local time to allow players to
break their fast during Ramadan and in which they
proved generally tired and listless.

But the goal was anything but as Belaïli skipped
past a defensive tackle, turned inside the
Cameroonian defence with a side step and then
belted a powerful shot which gave the visiting
goalkeeper no chance.

He was the provider of the second in stoppage time
at the end of the game as he played a clever cross
field pass that picked out substitute Iheb Msakni
for a powerful volley.

To add insult to injury, Coton Sport then had
captain Jean Bapidi Fils sent off for a clumsy
midfield challenge just a minute from the final
whistle, meaning he misses the next outing against
Recreativo Libolo.

Security concerns in Tunisia saw spectators banned
from watching the match at the Radès stadium,
creating an eerie atmosphere at cavernous venue.

Esperance lost their opening Group B game a
fortnight ago in Angola while this was Coton
Sport’s first match of the league campaign.

Source - Ghanasoccer

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