Rampant Sahel overpower Bayern at Alkass Cup

Etoile Sportive du Sahel (ESS) recorded a memorable victory over an out-of-sorts Bayern Munich at the Under-17 Alkass International Cup football tournament. The Tunisians’ powerful and authoritative display served notice of their tournament-winning potential.The 3-2 scoreline flattered the Germans, who were second best throughout, and were reliant upon two face-saving goals in added time to prevent a 3-0 thumping. ESS set the tone for a dominant display from the kick-off, and almost took the lead inside two minutes when the ball fell to Oussama Abid, whose weak shot could not trouble Bayern keeper Manuel Kainz.Unfortunately, Kainz was deeply troubled 20 minutes later, when his astonishing gaffe gifted the opener to Sahel. There appeared to be little danger when a free kick was swung in from wide on the left, and the Bayern number one rose highest to claim a routine catch, only for the ball to somehow slip through his fingers. Tunisian defender Koussay Rejeb gleefully accepted the unexpected gift, slotting into an empty net from all of three yards.It is often said that the mark of a top-class keeper is the ability to recover rapidly from adversity. If this is the case, then Kainz is surely destined for greatness. It soon became clear why he is team captain, as he showed great fortitude just minutes after his bizarre blunder to prevent the Tunisians from doubling their advantage. A corner swung in from the right was met firmly by ESS midfielder Nassim Khadher, who planted a firm header that looked destined for the bottom corner, only for the German keeper to get down brilliantly and keep the effort out.And, five minutes before the interval, Kainz was again the hero, getting strong hands to Mohamed Fallah’s low drive after the Tunisian skipper had cut in from the left. The 1-0 deficit may have been the German keeper’s fault, but his subsequent heroics ensured that Bayern were still in the game going into half time. But there was nothing he could do when, five minutes after the restart, Khalil Mahoudi latched onto a through ball down the inside right channel, hitting a first time shot past the despairing Kainz’s dive. Just after the hour, the lively Tunisian should have doubled his tally after intercepting a loose backpass and evading Kainz’s challenge as the keeper desperately attempted to remedy the situation. The ball arced into the air and fell at the feet of the Tunisian forward, but he somehow shot wide of the open goal from 12 yards out.With a two-goal deficit to rectify, Bayern made a double change on 70 minutes, but any hope of getting back into the game was soon extinguished, after Mahoudi once again escaped through the middle, skilfully evading challenges before cutting back to Montasar Ben Chabchoubi, who made no mistake. Amazingly Bayern almost found a way back after plundering two goals in added time. First, substitute Nemanja Motika got on the end of Grant Mamedova’s inviting cross and dispatched a firm volley from 12 yards out. Then, with only seconds remaining, the referee pointed to the spot after judging – with the aid of VAR – that ESS keeper Ahmed Slimen had planted his studs into the back of Moritz Mosandl when claiming a high ball. The German midfielder recovered to tuck home the penalty, but it was too little too late, as the final whistle immediately sounded.In another match, former winners Real Madrid held off a spirited display from Russians Spartak Moscow to come out on top 3-2. The two clubs produced a five-goal thriller although both sides could have scored more in an entertaining game.Real, who won the tournament in 2017, twice opened up a two-goal advantage but Spartak – with skipper Ilya Golyatov proving a real handful – refused to give in and they pushed the Spaniards all the way. Real made a lively start and Icelandic international Andri Gudjohnsen went close after just two minutes when put through by skipper Javier Lancho. But the Russians were presented with a glorious opportunity on nine minutes when Magomedemin Rabadanov went down under the challenge of Miguel Ramon but highly-rated Spanish Under 17 international keeper Lucas Conchello dived to his right to save Rabadanov’s penalty. Within minutes Real were ahead with a fine right-foot effort from Carles Moscardo after Ramon’s initial effort had been blocked. Real went 2-0 up on 20 minutes with a close-range tap-in from the lively Gudjohnsen and at that stage the Spaniards looked to be cruising to victory. Spartak had other ideas, however, and produced a lovely passing move that ended with Golyatov slotting home to make it 2-1.Hopes of a comeback were thwarted immediately as Spanish youth international Pau Aran ended a fine passing move that left him in space and he beat Vladislav Pchelnikov with a minimum of fuss. Golyatov then tested Conchello with a high right-footed drive but the tall keeper was up to the task but the Spartak captain did net his second of the match early into the second half when tapping home Aslan Mutaliev’s left-wing cross. Real almost restored their two-goal advantage soon after but Lancho’s looping header hit the post. The longer the second went on the more dangerous Spartak became and for large periods they were camped in the Real half without being able to find a way past the imposing Conchello.