CAF Champions League : Wydad AC Declines to Second Position in Group D

Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club faced today Angola’s Atletico Petroleos de Luanda as part of the second round of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

The game kicked off at 2 p.m. at the Estadio 11 de Novembro in Luanda, Angola’s capital.

Wydad players dominated the game during the early minutes of the first half, but the Angolan team grew back into the game and stifled most of Wydad’s goal threats.

Wydad’s “Reds” managed to make their opponents go through tough moments, with the Atletico Petroleos de Luanda’s net on the target of many attempts.

The spoiled attempts would have been of significant relief for the reds to comfortably play what was left of the game.

The game was stopped for a while at minute 30 due to hot weather.

Atletico Petroleos de Luanda had more possession and created more chances after the first half resumed.

The home side worked the ball to a position on the edge of the box, making it hard for Wydad’s goalkeeper Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti to take, with the Brazilian Tiago Azulao successfully scoring the first goal of the game at minute 41.

The first half ended with a disappointing draw for the Moroccan team and necessitated a lineup change for the second half.

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Wydad’s coach Walid Regragui made changes in the lineup in the second half, introducing Aymane El Hassouni and Amine Ferhane for Moaid Ellafi and Cheick Comara respectively.

After a tough push and pull game between the two sides, Jalal Daoudi managed to turn a free kick into a fabulous goal to equalize at the 60th minute.

Daoudi’s goal boosted Wydad‘s drive and thirst for a winner, with the reds putting more focus on attacking than defending.

But Wydad’s celebration of Daoudi’s equalizer did not last long as Petroleos’ Adriano Duarte managed to surprise the Moroccan goalkeeper Tagnaouti with a goal at minute 68.

With this defeat, Wydad stepped down the group D ranking to second position, but the two sides will meet again in Morocco for the second leg on March 31.

Wydad AC started their group phase with a well worked 3-0 victory at home against Angolan rookies GD Sagrada Esperança at the Mohamed V Stadium in Casablanca.