Espérance Sportive de Tunis secured their place in the Tunisian Cup quarter-finals this afternoon after a convincing 3-1 victory away to ES Métlaoui at the Municipal Stadium of Métlaoui. Focused, efficient and largely dominant throughout the encounter, the Blood and Gold managed to overcome a traditionally difficult away fixture and confirmed their determination to go all the way in the competition.
The match could not have started better for Christian Bracconi’s men. Right from the opening minute, Jack Diarra used his pace brilliantly down the left flank before delivering a perfect cross to Houssem Tka, who fired home first time past Hamza Ben Chérifia to hand the Blood and Gold an immediate lead.
Boosted by this dream start, Espérance continued to push forward in search of a second goal that would allow them to take full control of the game. However, ES Métlaoui tried to respond through quick counterattacks and managed to create a few dangerous situations. In the 14th minute, Chérif Boudian attempted his luck, but his effort sailed over Memmiche’s goal.
Despite a few difficult moments, Espérance remained the more dangerous side offensively. Jack Diarra, extremely lively throughout the match, nearly surprised Ben Chérifia with a dangerous cross-shot, while Ibrahima Keita failed to hit the target following a beautiful collective move in the 27th minute. Shortly afterwards, Achraf Jabri also came close but his shot went wide.
The end of the first half was largely controlled by the Blood and Gold, who dominated possession without managing to kill off the match. ES Métlaoui even thought they had equalized shortly before halftime through Mohamed Diamé following a dangerous counterattack, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Hamza Rafia then wasted a promising opportunity before the referee sent both teams into the dressing room with Espérance holding a narrow one-goal advantage.
After the break, Espérance raised the tempo significantly in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises. Houssem Tka came very close to doubling the lead in the 54th minute after an excellent team move, but Ben Chérifia produced a superb save to deny him.
The second goal eventually arrived four minutes later. Once again, Jack Diarra caused all kinds of problems down the wing before setting up Achraf Jabri, who managed to slide the ball into the back of the net despite losing his balance slightly. A goal that gave the Blood and Gold complete control of the encounter.
Espérance quickly added a third goal to put the result beyond doubt. In the 61st minute, Chiheb Jebali combined beautifully with Kouceila Boualia through an excellent one-two move before Boualia calmly beat the goalkeeper to make it 3-0.
The hosts managed to pull one back in the 69th minute after a defensive scramble inside the Espérance box. Oussama Bahri recovered the ball before assisting Raed Fedaâ, who finished clinically past Memmiche. Nevertheless, the goal had little impact on the overall flow of the game as Espérance remained firmly in control.
The Blood and Gold continued to create chances afterwards through Jebali, Boualia and Haythem Dhaou, but without adding further goals to the scoreline.
At the final whistle, the mission was successfully accomplished with a fully deserved qualification to the Tunisian Cup quarter-finals. It was an encouraging and convincing performance from Espérance, who now turn their attention to next Thursday’s clash against lower-division side BS Bouhajla as they continue their pursuit of silverware.
Congratulations to the players and best of luck for the next round!
EST Lineup: Memmiche(c), Keita, Laïfi, Jelassi, Meriah(c) (Ben Hamida 77'), Konaté (Jebali 50'), Tka (Hadj-Ali 77'), Rafia, Boualia, Diarra (Dhaou 59') and Jabri (Danho 59').
Booking: Rafia.