Esperance prevail on penalties to finish fifth

































Nine-man Esperance ended their FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 campaign on a high after a tense penalty shoot-out win against Chivas in the match for fifth place at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.

A Walter Sandoval penalty opened the scoring for CONCACAF champions Chivas before Esperance’s Mohammed Belaili’s spot-kick levelled proceedings for the CAF Champions League holders.

With all level at 1-1 after 90 minutes, penalties followed where defender Chamseddine Dhaouadi converted the winning spot-kick in the 6-5 shoot-out win.

Just like in their second-round opener Chivas took an early lead, but this time it was from the penalty spot. Sameh Derbali brought down Angel Zaldivar inside the area, and after a VAR decision awarded a penalty, Sandoval fired into the net.

Esperance were then awarded a penalty on 37 minutes when a VAR review confirmed the ball was handled by Josecarlos Van Rankin inside the area. Belaili stepped up to the spot and coolly slotted low into the bottom corner, much to the delight of the travelling Tunisian support behind the goal.

Both sides were unable to produce another goal in a second half that saw the Tunisian side reduced to nine men. Anice Badri was shown a second yellow card on 79 minutes while Houcine Rebai was shown a straight red for a challenge on Isaac Brizuela late in the match.

A penalty shoot-out followed, and while substitute goalkeeper Miguel Jimenez saved two penalties for Chivas, he was unable to prevent Dhaouadi from bagging the winner.

Alibaba Cloud Match Award​ winner: Rami Jeridi (Esperance)





Esperance 1-1 (6-5 pens) CD Guadalajara (UAE 2018)







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Source: fifa.com