With a late goal 8 minutes before end, Itthad lost 1-0 to Esperance de Tunis . In a good defensive match by Itthad, the Egyptian team lost 1-0 to Esperance de Tunis in the first leg of the round of the last 16 of the CAF Confederation Cup. The match was held at Menzah Stadium in Tunis. For 80 minutes the match went in favor of Itthad Alexandria but 10 minutes before the end Walid Tayeb took the ball on the left side of Itthad´s penalty area and passed towards Hamada Yousef, who was playing a very good match. Yousef crossed, and Amir Letaify took advantage of the loose ball and shot the ball into the back of the net. With this result Itthad needs to score twice in Alexandria to reach the next round.


Match report:


Itthad line-up (3-5-2): Ashour - Hamada Yousef, Yousef Abd El Rehim, Khamis Jaafar - Kira, Ahmed Saleh - El Shayeb, Jashwa, Hossam Abd El Moniem - Geddo, Yamany - Manager: Talaat Youssef


First half:
The match started with the two sides trying to enforce their tempo. Esperance couldn’t control due to Itthad forcing their successful defensive strategy. First shot on Target was from Esperance but in the hands of Ashour in the 11th minute. In the 17th minute Esperance with a good free kick shot but Ashour converted to a corner. Itthad had their first counter attack in the 22nd minute but Kira didn’t pass to Yamany who was in a good position. Esperance with a good header but over the cross bar in the 24th minute. Itthad´s defence was putting pressure on Esperance offense and Hamada Yousef did a great job in Itthad’s defence. Two free kicks for Esperance were wasted and the first half ended 0-0.


Second half:

In the first 8 minutes of the second half Esperance had a few free kicks but all were wasted due to solid defending from Itthad. Kira also had a shot from outside of the box but was in the hands of Jan Jack Tisie. In the 10th minute Jashwa wasted a chance for Itthad after a weak header wide from a corner for Itthad. Esperance continued taking free kicks on the right side but all were wasted. Yamany with a long ball but Tisie cleared the danger after playing the role of the libero. In the 15th minute, an Esperance player went down in Itthad penalty area and the referee did not point to the penalty spot. Two attacks for Itthad by Ahmed Saleh on the left and Jashwa on the right side were wasted due to the lack of strikers in the Esperance defence area. A loose ball infront of Itthad box was cleared out of danger by Hamada Yousef. In the 25th minute the first slip by Itthad defence resulted in a very dangerous ball for Tarajy but was shot wide by the Esperance striker. Another free kick for Esperance in the 32 minute converted to a corner this time from Hossam Abd El Moniem. A good attack for Itthad from Kira from the right side, but the ball didn’t reach Mohamed Farouk’s head. In the 35th minute Esperence scored their only goal after a counter attack Amir Letaify scored the lone goal of the match. Itthad tried to attack but they were not effective enough to score. In the last minute of the match Rami Said had a free kick and shot it over the cross bar. The match ended with Itthad losing 1-0 to Esperance.


Substitutions:
52’ Omar Islam in for Geddo

69’ Farouk in for Yamany
89’ Rami Said in for the injured Omar Islam


Bookings:

23’ Kira
58’ Ahmed Saleh