Khenissi brace fires Esperance to victory

Striker Taha Yassine Khenissi scored in either half to power Esperance to a 2-0 win over FC Platinum of Zimbabwe in their Group B Day Two clash on Friday in Tunis.

In a game that took place behind closed doors due to sanctions, Esperance were able to achieve victory without their 12th player, for their first win at the group phase.

Debutants FC Platinum rarely threatened Esperance, as the experience of the former separated the two sides. The Tunisians were eager to score at the onset but the guests opted for a safer defensive approach.

After some time, Esperance’s strategy yielded results and Khenissi broke the deadlock on 25 minutes to give the ‘Blood and Gold’ the lead at the break.

A 1-0 lead was more than sufficient to send Esperance to the dressing room in good spirit.

Khenissi sealed victory with his second of the game on 66 minutes, finishing off a Franck Kom assist.

The win pushes to the summit of the standings with four points. Orlando Pirates face Horoya in the other Group B match later on Friday.

**Reactions

Moine Chaabani (Head coach, Esperance)

**Securing the three points was our main objective in this second game. The FC Platinum defence was very tight and well-coordinated and we were expecting it to be this way. We chose to play faster on the ball and the first goal made our task easier. We continued with the same pace and it brought us the second goal. Our opponents posed no threat to us. We were well prepared to handle their counter attacks. We are on the right track with the four points we have so far.

**Sameh Derbali (Defender, Esperance)

**We are having some good days and I pray that we continue like this. After last week’s positive result, we managed to secure three points today. Despite the pitch condition and absence of fans, we were well focused and managed to accomplish the objective that we have set in mind and secure three points.

**Norman Mapeza (Head Coach, FC Platinum)

**It was a good game of football. We came here looking for a positive result but that didn’t happen today. I am very happy with my boys, they were well prepared today. We defended very well, even though we were a bit short in terms of going forward. We were playing against a very experienced side in the CAF Champions League, so losing 2-0 is not a bad result. Other clubs come here and lose 5-0. It was the experience that i need as a coach and we need as a team to better ourselves.