Tunisia thrash Libya as Mauritania frustrate Morocco

Forward Wahbi Khazri proved that old is gold, scoring a golden brace adding on to another by Saif-Eddine Khaoui as Tunisia thrashed Libya 4-1 in Tunis to start off their journey to the 2021 Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in style.

Khazri who was a core figure as the side finished fourth at the last championship in Egypt led from the front literally as the Carthage Eagles flew to the top of Group J.

Tunisia are joint top with East African side Tanzania, but their high scoring return see them occupy the summit after match day one.

Khazri responded after missing a 33rd minute penalty in style when he broke the deadlock just a minute on the turn to give the home side a worthy lead after spells of dominance. Khaoui then doubled the tally four minutes to the break.

However, Libya gave themselves some hope of a second half comeback when Hamdou Elhouni scored in the first minute of added time.

But, all hopes of a memorable comeback were quashed just six minutes after the restart when Khaoui struck his second before Khazri added the cherry to the cake in the 89th minute to give the Eagles a worthy 4-1 lead.

Tunisia head to Equatorial Guinea for match day two on Tuesday where a healthy victory will guarantee them a good lead heading into the next round of matches next year.

In a post match interview, Tunisia coach Mondher Kebaier said: "This is our first game in the qualifiers and I’m satisfied it ended on a good note. We were playing at home so we had that advantage and used it to our best. We played good football and created good scoring opportunities. 4-1 is a good result and it’s not easy to beat the Libyan national team by such margin.”

“we got off to a good start at the AFCON qualifiers. 4-1 is a great result to start with. Not everything was perfect but we must take in the positive and work on what we did wrong, and hopefully, the good results will follow," midfielder Elyes Skhiri added.

Elsewhere in Rabat, fellow North African opponents Morocco were frustrated at home after being held to a goalless draw by a resolute Mauritania side. The Atlas Lions whose performance in Egypt in June attracted much criticism now face an away tie to Burundi where a win will be necessary to put their Group E hopes back on track.