Ghana defender Harrison Afful provided an assist in Esperance's 2-0 win at Sunshine Stars in their CAF Champions League title defence.
Afful sent in a cross from the right and Youssef Msakni connected home for the opener after 20 minutes.
Sunshine would have drawn level almost immediately but Osas Idehen’s effort from inside the Esperance box came off the post.
The Tunisians doubled their lead in first half stoppage time when big Cameroonian striker Yannick Ndjeng controlled the ball on top of the Sunshine box before he fired beyond the diving goalkeeper Moses Ocheje.
Afful scored the only goal which handed Esperance the trophy last year.