Afcon 2021: Tunisia bounce back to thrash Mauritania

Tunisia bounced back from their controversial opening defeat at the Africa Cup of Nations by brushing aside Mauritania 4-0 in Group F.

Khazri got his second after the break and Seifeddine Jaziri added the fourth.

Tunisia had lost their first game 1-0 to Mali – a match which was ended 13 seconds early – but their protests were dismissed by tournament organisers.

Substitute Youssef Msakni, who featured at his seventh Nations Cup after recovering from coronavirus, missed a late penalty for the 2004 champions, pulling his effort against the left-hand upright.

The Carthage Eagles are just the second team to score four goals in a game at this year’s Nations Cup, after hosts Cameroon, and victory puts them a point behind The Gambia and Mali.

Tunisia face the Gambians in their final group match on Friday (19:00 GMT), while back-to-back defeats mean Mauritania can no longer reach the last 16.

Tunisia showed no sign of any lingering frustration following the fall-out from their first defeat, taking control inside the opening 10 minutes in Limbe.

Former Sunderland attacker Khazri, who had seen a penalty saved against Mali, made no mistake for the opener when he controlled a ball from Anis Ben Slimane and passed into the net to double his side’s lead.

His second in the 64th minute capped a fine team move, as Khazri stepped over a ball into the box and stroked home after being found by Ghaylene Chaalali.

Two minutes later Khazri, now at Saint-Etienne, rounded off a captain’s performance as his defence-splitting through-ball was converted first time by Jaziri with the outside of the right boot.