Elhouni bags hat trick as Al Sadd suffers 2-6 drubbing in the hands of ES Tunis
Al Sadd suffered their worst defeat yet under the guidance of former Barcelona star Xavi Hernandez as they were drubbed 2-6 by African champions Esperance Sportive de Tunis in the fifth-place match of the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup Qatar played at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha yesterday.
Hamdou Elhouni hit a hat-trick to equal a Club World Cup’s feat achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez, and Gareth Bale while Anice Badri got a brace as the Tunisian side stunned the hosts, who got as far as the semi-finals in their first appearance at the tournament in 2011.
With his prolific striking performance, the 25-year-old Libyan becomes the fourth player to score at least three goals in a game in the competition’s history.
Al Sadd played the majority of the contest with 10 men after defender Abdelkarim Hassan was deemed to have blocked a goal-bound shot with his hand. Baghdad Bounedjah and Hassan Al Haydos salvaged some pride for Al Sadd, both scoring from the penalty spot, but ES Tunis added late goals to extend their margin of victory.
Ahead of the match, Xavi had promised to end the tournament on a high note after some defensive errors cost them the opportunity of meeting Liverpool in the semi-final as they were thumped 2-3 by CONCACAF champion CF Monterrey on Saturday.
However, whatever plans the former Spain’s international and the team had went south inside the 40,000 capacity stadium on the night as they played more like underdogs rather than the pre-match favorites they were generally tagged before the clash.
The two sides had previously met once at the 2011 tournament, and ES Tunis, who had never won against any Asian side until now, were the looser on the occasion with the match ending 2-1 in favor of the Qatari side who were the Asian Champions as at then.
“I’m very sad, very disappointed and very angry because we played the first two matches really well. This is a premium for us and I can’t understand the team today. This is not what we want,” a very disappointed Xavi said after the match. “We are Al Sadd and we’re playing against African champions and our attitude during the first 20 minutes isn’t acceptable.”
Xavi, who took charge in May after four years as a player with the club, acknowledged an improvement from his players following the dismissal of Hassan.
“After we got the red card we played okay. We played with good attitude, intensity. I cannot accept the first 30 minutes, it’s impossible to accept. I’m very angry, we need to find the solution. It was a really bad result. We have to come back of course. We’re in a bad moment because we couldn’t compete well, but our reality is to win the local competitions and start well in the Asian Champions League," he added.
Libya international Elhouni put his side ahead in the sixth minute and later provided an assist for Badri to double the lead. Al Sadd gave away a penalty after referee Abdelkader Zitouni deemed Hassan had blocked a Badri shot with his hand.
The spot-kick was finally awarded after consulting the VAR and Badri confidently slotted home to make it 3-0. Al Sadd reduced the deficit with a penalty of their own with Bounedjah on target after Derbali was felled inside the area.
The Tunisian side restored their three-goal cushion just before half-time with Elhouni tucking home a loose ball from a tight angle.
Hassan Al Haydos converted the third penalty of the match after Abdelkader Bedrane was fouled to cut the deficit but the hope of the Qatar Stars League champions did not last for long as Elhouni duly completed his hat-trick when he tapped in at the back post, before Sameh Derbali rounded out the scoring in the 87th minute with an angled finish.
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