Kaizer Chiefs were handed an emphatic first defeat in the Caf Champions League as Wydad Casablanca ran home 4-0 winners in their clash on Sunday evening.
Gavin Hunt made two changes to the Chiefs team who played out to a goalless draw against Horoya, with Njabulo Blom and Lebogang Manyama coming in for Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Bernard Parker.
Chiefs got off to a horror start as they were a goal down within seven minutes after Muaid Ellafi picked out Mohammed Ounajem inside the six-yard box who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
Amakhosi looked to get back into the game and came close to levelling matters with 15 minutes gone but Samir Nurkovic’s effort was well saved by Ahmed Tagnaouti in the Wydad goal.
The hosts continued to threaten and after going close to doubling their lead through Ayoub El Kaabi’s close range header, which was kept out by Itumeleng Khune, ten minutes before the break, they found their second when El Kaabi made expertly place another header past Khune on the stroke of half time.
A slow start to the second stanza saw Chiefs struggling to create any openings while the Moroccans showed their experience at this level by stifling any attacking threat Amakhosi possessed, with Kearyn Baccus’ strike the only opening of note.
Wydad eventually killed the game off with two goals in the closing stages. First it was Msuva who scored the third with a cracking strike from range that found the top corner, before Ramahlwe Mphahlele conceded a penalty for a handball inside the box, which resulted in the captain picking up his second booking. Yahya Jabrane stepped up to the spot and made it 4-0 to the Moroccans, as Wydad grabbed top spot in the group with a maximum of six points while Amakhosi were stuck in third place with one point.