African champions Wydad go from bottom to top of group

CAF Champions League title-holders Wydad Casablanca of Morocco went from the bottom to the top of Group A on Friday after a 1-0 home win over V Club from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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A superb long pass set substitute Mohamed Ounajem free inside the box and his low cross was deflected past goalkeeper Farid Ouedraogo by defender Guy Magema on 55 minutes.

It was the second straight home victory for the three-time African champions after a Yahya Jabrane penalty brought a 1-0 win over Petro Luanda of Angola last weekend.

The visit of V Club to the Moroccan commercial capital was set for last month, but had to be delayed because Wydad were playing in the Club World Cup, which the north African kingdom hosted.

Victory over the Kinshasa outfit lifted Wydad to six points at the halfway stage of a mini-league which also includes JS Kabylie of Algeria.

Petro and Kabylie have four points each and V Club three in a section where all four clubs have hopes of a top-two finish and a quarter-finals place.

On March 11, V Club are away to Kabylie and Wydad travel to Petro in a repeat of a 2022 semi-final won 4-2 on aggregate by the Casablanca side.

Since winning the Champions League last season under Walid Regragui, Wydad have hired four coaches with Spaniard Juan Carlos Garrido replacing Franco-Tunisian Mehdi Nafti this week.

Regragui resigned last July to take charge of the national team, and led Morocco to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, the first African team to reach the penultimate stage.