Zizo stunner not enough as Zamalek fall in Casablanca
Zamalek suffered their first defeat in the CAF Champions League group stage as they fell 3-1 against Wydad Casablanca in Morocco.
The White Knights started their Champions League group stage journey with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Petro Luanda at home.
Things didn’t get much better in the second game as Zamalek fell to another tie, but this time against Sagrada Esperança, who shared the spoils with their guests.
Going into Wydad game, the Whites had no choice but to aim for victory as any other result would keep them in third place, with three games left.
Zamalek started strong, and they successfully opened scoring three minutes into the game through Ahmed Sayed Zizo who sent a brilliant strike from outside the box to the Moroccan nets.
The hosts refused to give up after the early goal as they controlled the ball possession searching for the equalizer.
In the 27th minute, Wydad got what they wanted when Zouhair El Moutaraji took advantage of the confused Zamalek defenses to equalize for his team.
Only ten minutes later, Amine Farhane added Wydad’s second goal of the night after Abou-Gabal’s bad clearance.
After the half-time break, Zamalek pressed searching for an equalizer, but the hosts didn’t just sit back as well.
Despite the two teams looking for a play, not many goal-scoring chances were seen as both sides prioritized avoiding conceding more goals.
In the 88th, the hosts found an opening when Mouaid Ellafi sent a cross to Yahya Jabrane who netted his first goal of the night and the third for his team, for the match to end 3-1.
Following the defeat, Zamalek lie third on the group table with two points after three games while Wydad are one spot ahead with six points from the same number of games.
