Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles cruised to a convincing 5-1 victory against an overmatched Mauritania side on Tuesday to make it an ideal start to their 2021 FIFA Arab Cup campaign. Seifeddine Jaziri and Firas Ben Larbi both scored twice with Youssef Msakni also contributing and Tunisia was up 3-0 before the Mauritanians could score and provide any bit of resistance. Tunisia are in first place in Group B and are in good shape to advance with games against United Arab Emirates and Syria upcoming.
The first half was quite even for stretches with a similar amount of opportunities for both teams, but Tunisia started to increase the pressure and found the important opening goal in the 39th minute. A clever stepover in the Mauritanian penalty area by Manchester United starlet Hannibal Mejbri created space for the 18-year-old to slide a pass over to Jaziri for the Zamalek forward to finish into the upper corner. Only a couple of minutes later it was Ben Larbi who took advantage of some sloppy passing in the back by Mauritania before the Ajman Club player sent a thunderous blast into the corner of the goal.
An onrush at the end of the first half was completed by Tunisia in stoppage time when a floated ball into the box found Pyramids FC forward Fakhreddine Ben Youssef, who headed back in front of goal to find Jaziri. Jaziri’s initial finish was blocked by Mauritania keeper Babacar Diop, but he was able to collect the rebound and backheel a shot past Diop on the second attempt. Mauritania was finally able to get a goal back in the last minute of first half stoppage time through a penalty kick goal from Bessam, but the damage was done.
Soon after halftime, it was Ben Larbi who reestablished Tunisia’s three-goal lead by receiving a deflected pass and moving in on Diop before finishing easily past the stranded keeper. Late on it was Msakni who delivered a fifth goal for the Carthage Eagles against the deflated and demoralized Mauritanian defense, with the Al-Arabi player making a run into the six-yard box before receiving a cross and finishing from close range.
Highlights of the match are in the button link below.
