Difaâ El Jadida and Mouloudia de Meknès met in the first matchday of the Botola Pro season on 26 September and the visitors ran out 6:2 winners. We had tipped the home side for victory at 44 per cent confidence, but the match went another way entirely. Difaâ started brighter and took the lead through a penalty from H. Elowasti in the thirteenth minute.
By then Meknès had found their rhythm. Z. Bahrou equalised from the spot in the twenty-second minute, and H. El Janati gave the visitors the lead by the quarter-hour mark. W. Onana made it 1:3 before half-time, and Elowasti restored a one-goal deficit with his second penalty in the forty-seventh minute. Things came to a head after the break as Meknès switched off at nothing and simply kept going.
S. Abaaziz added a fifth in the sixty-second minute, and M. Mouchtanim converted a penalty of his own in the seventy-third. T. Razko rounded off the scoring in the eightieth. Difaâ threw bodies forward but could not find the back of the net — their shots accuracy sat at zero while the visitors registered 75 per cent. We had given the hosts the edge, but the match was decided by those three decisive moments.
Statistics tell only part of the tale. Difaâ recorded 98 attacks against Meknès' 80, yet the visitors held 73 per cent of possession and carved them open with clinical efficiency. The hosts registered two shots off target and none on, while Meknès hit the frame three times from four attempts. The old head settled them down when it mattered most.
Discipline was a concern for Difaâ, who collected four yellow cards through B. Diarra, A. El Khafi, S. El Morsli and L. Naji. Meknès kept their composure and avoided bookings entirely. Both sides made several changes, with Difaâ bringing on Y. El Ouatki, A. Ennakouss and Z. Bahrou, while the visitors introduced P. Pessoa and replaced L. Naji.
The result leaves both sides with points on the board, though the table positions reflect last season rather than this one. Meknès move into the top half of the standings, while Difaâ will need to find their shooting boots if they want to climb away from the bottom. Cup football has its own rules, and today the visitors proved why they were favourites.
